Prayer Challenges

Man Builders from Doug Knox.

August 2024 -

Man Builders, Part 1

2 Corinthians 4:5-12

TREASURES IN CLAY JARS

Thinking about the Past
A few weeks ago, my oldest daughter and I talked on the phone. As we rambled from one subject to another, she mentioned her past and the decisions that she made that ultimately placed her where she is today. Her first inclination, she said, was to count her regrets. But she realized that her circumstances had led her to the place where she is today and to the husband that has blessed her. She said she wouldn’t want any of that to change. Profound thoughts indeed, that recognition that God has used everything in her life to shape her into the person she is now. Of course, those very thoughts can crater as well as soar. We can obsess about such questions until we become lost in the marshes. I know because I have. The question is whether we can think seriously about the value of God’s work in our personal past? More importantly, can we find examples in Scripture where God builds good men through bad circumstances? The answer is yes. Over and over again. This series will consider examples in the biblical narratives that illustrate some of the ways that God has used circumstances to shape ordinary guys into men who treasure God’s purpose more than personal comfort.

A Fickle Body of Believers
We visit an early church first. If any biblical-period church had a reputation for being obsessed over circumstances, the church at Corinth ran at the front of the pack. Acts 18:1-17 contains a concise early history of the church at Corinth, which the Apostle Paul planted. His time there was mixed with triumph and hardship, but ultimately, he ministered in the city for a year and a half (Acts 17:11). The fireworks continued after he appointed local leaders to pastor the church. We learn from the book of 1 Corinthians that after he left, the church considered him one of the big-name personalities of the day. 1 Corinthians 1:10 – 4:20 mentions Paul, Apollos, and Peter as the three that the church used to drive their individual agendas. In the church’s obsession with luminaries, even Jesus became just another name to claim (1 Corinthians 1:12). Paul was forced to defend his authority. “For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel” (1 Corinthians 4:15). In the end, the church’s skepticism toward Paul grew rather than waned. Only a few months later, Paul wrote the letter that we know as 2 Corinthians. Toward the beginning, he launches a subtle defense of his and the other workers’ authority as ministers of God. It is meant to make the church members rethink their status:

For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

--2 Corinthians 4:5-6

Paul sets up a clear difference between “we” as God’s ministers and “you” as the recipients of their ministry. Therefore, when he writes that God “has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God,” he means the ministers’ hearts, not the church’s.

“Treasure in Jars of Clay”
This introduction leads to what he says next in his defense. Verses 7-12 discuss the adversity that Paul and his fellow workers had to endure for the Corinthian church’s sake. His appeal reads like poetry:

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed;
perplexed, but not driven to despair;
persecuted, but not forsaken;
struck down, but not destroyed;
always carrying in the body the death of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.

For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake,
so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.

So death is at work in us, but life in you.

--2 Corinthians 4:7-12

The term, this treasure, at the beginning of the quote refers the gospel message that God entrusted to Paul and his fellow workers. Paul and his coworkers, on the other hand, are jars of clay, mortal men who are made from earthy elements, commissioned to communicate God’s great grace.

An Ode to Adversity, or Suffering with Purpose?
With language so poetic, has Paul penned only an overromanticized ode to adversity Certainly not. Earlier in the letter, he wrote, “For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself” (2 Corinthians 1:8). Paul experienced severe suffering in his work, and there was nothing romantic about it. They endure because the church is worth the effort. This reality becomes evident in the four comparisons. Each introduces a serious but lesser difficulty that they experience and contrasts a greater hope that helps them maintain their vision.

He writes, “We are…

• “…afflicted…but not crushed;
• “…perplexed, but not driven to despair
• “…persecuted, but not forsaken;
• “…struck down, but not destroyed.”

This is Paul’s way of expressing the deeper meaning of his and his associates’ sufferings. How does he arrive at this conclusion? The answer comes from the next line in his declaration. Because Jesus lives, they live. They are “…always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.” Notice how he crosses the two key ideas in this clause:

…carrying in the body
the death of Jesus…

…the life of Jesus
manifested in our bodies.

Jesus lived and died with a purpose, which he accomplished with certainty when the Father raised him from the dead. By the same token, Paul and the others sacrifice their bodies in imitation of Christ’s death so that Christ’s life can complete their purpose. This is why he can conclude, “So death is at work in us, but life in you.” The suffering that Paul talks about in this passage is transformative. That is, it accomplishes a greater good for others. Future installments will show that suffering is developmental as well. God uses our difficulties to prepare us for more purposeful ministry in his calling and mission.

Doug Knox

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Man Builders, Part 2

Exodus 2:11-15

MOSES, Part. 1: REVERSALS

Setting up a Narrative
If the Old Testament had a candidate for the equivalent of our contemporary Ivy League students, Moses would be in line for Egypt’s Yale or Harvard. At least, at the start. His story is familiar to almost anyone, whether he believes the Bible or not. He is born during the period of Israel’s slavery in Egypt, during a time that would bear similarities to Hitler’s Final Solution during WWII. By Moses’s time, Jacob’s family has worn out their welcome in Egypt. They have multiplied to dangerous levels, and the pharaoh believes that the people as a threat to Egypt’s safety. He decides to “deal shrewdly” with the population. His tactics are anything but.

A Series of Reversals Against the Egyptians
The opening in Exodus paints Israel’s history under the shadow of God’s protection. First, the pharaoh enslaves the Israelites as burden bearers in the hope of wearing them down. Then, a reversal occurs. “The more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied, and the more they spread abroad” (Exodus 1:12). Next, the pharaoh attempts to exterminate the Hebrews. His program begins with an order to two Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, to cull the baby boys when they are born (Exodus 1:15-21). But the two women say no to the order, and the Hebrew baby boys survive. Egypt’s scheme suffers a second reversal. Desperate now, the pharaoh calls for the Egyptian populace to engage in mass extermination. The mandate now goes out to the Egyptian populace. “Every son that is born to the Hebrews you shall cast into the Nile” (Exodus 1:22). The public manifesto works. Whether the Egyptian people are too prejudiced toward the Israelites or too fearful to resist, the holocaust becomes real. That is when an anonymous Hebrew mother decides that a desperate attempt to appeal to Egyptian maternal empathy is better than guaranteed extermination. She puts her baby boy in a waterproofed basket and releases him in the marshes in a river where the Egyptian women bathe. The gamble works. In a stunning third reversal, the pharaoh’s daughter finds the boy, names him Moses, and adopts him as her own. Even more amazingly, she employs his mother to nurse him (Exodus 2:6-9). Doubtless, the mother teaches him Israel’s history as well during the time that she is with him. God has reversed a trio of Egyptian attempts to destroy his people. Moses grows up under the very royalty that he ultimately will challenge. He is in the perfect place to complete God’s mission. Three up; three down.

From Royalty to Runaway
Moses sees this fact. Apparently, he begins to believe in his own invincibility as well. Following the incident in the marshes, the text jumps to his adulthood, where he asserts his authority.

One day, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his people and looked on their burdens, and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his people. He looked this way and that, and seeing no one, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand. When he went out the next day, behold, two Hebrews were struggling together. And he said to the man in the wrong, “Why do you strike your companion?”
He answered, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you mean to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?”
Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.”
When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well. Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father’s flock.

--Exodus 2:11-15

Two points are noteworthy in this section. First, the text mentions that Moses goes out to visit “his people.” His sense of empathy is significant. He has internalized his mother’s teaching. He shuns the opportunity for privilege over his heritage and chooses instead to identify with his people and their God. The writer of Hebrews lauds his decision:

By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.

--Hebrews 11:24-25

Moses understands that God has called him to something both difficult and significant. And he embraces the call. When he sees one of his countrymen suffering an assault by an Egyptian, he rescues the Israelite and kills the enemy. This brings us to the second point. Obviously, Moses believes that his people will side with him. But the three reversals against Egypt fall short of his expectations. The reversal falls against Moses himself. The surprise development occurs following day, when he tries to intercede between two of his countrymen. Instead of the hero’s welcome that he expects, He discovers that his fellow Hebrews distrust him. To make matters worse, the Pharaoh hears about the incident with the Egyptian and seeks his death.

Enduring Failure
Humiliated, Moses flees to Midian, a desert region south of Canaan and east of the Gulf of Aqaba. For the moment, we will leave him to sit by the well in limbo while he wonders why everything has fallen apart. The questions that Moses faces plague all of us. Every man carries a nemesis, a memory of a failure so devastating that even the memory cripples him. We all ask ourselves, “Why did I do X, when X brought all my expectations to nothing? Failures like this are too big to be fixed with after-action reports like we see following military missions. The wounds refuse to close. The consequences linger raw in our thinking for years and crush our sense of self-worth like apples under a cider press.

Setbacks
This is where Scripture leaves Moses—in the middle of a colossal failure brought on by a single presumptuous act. However, Moses still has a mission ahead, even if he is blind to it at this point. God can and does use human failure to accomplish his plans in history. The next segment will look at how God uses the shadowy times to prepare him.

Doug Knox

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Man Builders, Part 3

Exodus 2:16-24

THE HIDDEN VALUE OF “DEAD” TIME

Moses’s Freefall
The Bible’s description of the crisis that drives Moses’s flight to the desert captures is a masterpiece in brevity. It shows that instant when reality catches up with him and sends him into the tailspin that will dominate his life for the next forty years (for the timeline, see Stephen’s speech in Acts 7:23 and 30). His crisis explodes the day after he kills an Egyptian for beating an Israelite. Thinking that he will find welcome with his people, he tries to intervene in a dispute between two of the Hebrews. When one of the men expresses his distrust of Moses and what he stands for, Moses panics.

Then Moses was afraid, and thought, “Surely the thing is known.” When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh and stayed in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well

--Exodus 2:14-15

Four brief statements trace Moses’s plummet from would-be hero to renegade:

• He realizes that his act has become public knowledge.
• The Pharaoh seeks to execute him.
• He flees to Midian.
• During the first recorded break in the action, he sits by a well, doubtless wondering what he will do next.

Giving Up on Plans
We pick up where we Moses at the end of the last segment, sitting by a well in Midian (Exodus 2:18). At this moment, the seven daughters of the priest of Midian happen to come to the well.

Now the priest of Midian had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. The shepherds came and drove them away, but Moses stood up and saved them, and watered their flock. When they came home to their father Reuel, he said, “How is it that you have come home so soon today?” They said, “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and watered the flock.”

--Exodus 2:16-19

The section switches from Moses point of view to the collective viewpoint of seven sisters, daughters of the priest of Midian, who come to water their sheep. Here we see Moses being Moses. When the other shepherds come in to bully the ladies, he reacts, not so much out of impulse as out of principle. He drives out the other shepherds and fills the troughs for the sisters. Apparently, however, the bullying of the women is a daily affair, because when the shepherdesses come home, their father asks them why they return so early. They explain what has happened. “An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds and even drew water for us and watered the flock.”
“An Egyptian.” Obviously, Moses is a Hebrew, but his Egyptian garb betrays his cultural heritage.

A Less-than-stellar Contentment
A happenstance meeting at a well, followed by a reflexive reaction to bullying, work to ricochet Moses’s life in a completely new direction.

He said to his daughters, “Then where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread.” And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zipporah. She gave birth to a son, and he called his name Gershom, for he said, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.”

--Exodus 2:20-22

With this transition, Moses enters the second phase of his life. It is period fraught with difficult changes—

From royalty to survival.
From singleness to marriage.
From privilege to subsistence.

While the Bible says that he is content, it is shallow happiness. When a son is born, Moses names him Gershom, meaning “Foreigner.” His son’s name is reflected in his lament, “I have been a sojourner in a foreign land.” Remember, Moses writes the book of Exodus. When he relates this part of the narrative, he bares his soul. He gives us an insight into his failure to fulfill God’s plan. Granted, it is perceived, but he cannot see that yet. His emptiness is genuine.

Behind-the-scenes Reality
However, one scene remains in Moses’s desert experience. That is the then-hidden reality about his forty-year sojourn in the desert, a truth that would remain hidden until much later in his life. The truth is that God is preparing his people to want to be rescued from slavery. The final paragraph in the section:

During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew.

Exodus 2:23-25

Again, this paragraph displays two major revelations behind two different points of view. The first describes the feelings of the people themselves. “…and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help.” The second reveals the bigger picture, that God is listening and preparing to act. His people matter to him. Let’s pare the descriptions down to the most basic elements. They are intimate and relational, and they pound like a drumbeat:

Their cry…came up to God.
And God heard their groaning…
And God remembered his covenant…
And God saw the people…
And God knew.

Deep Roots in the Desert
Moses believes that his time in the desert defines the remainder of his life. Instead, he is preparing three streams that, when combined, will create a torrent. The first, of course, is Moses himself. His time in the wasteland gives him survival skills that he will need when he leads the people from Egypt to Mount Sinai. The second stream emerges from the statement, “During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help.” In situations like this one, the rhetorical question arises. “How badly do you want it?” God is making the vision for freedom greater than anything else for the Israelites. Human nature speaks here. Whatever the “it” in the wanting happens to be, if the desire does not consume us, more than likely, we will give up before we achieve it. When the nation groans and cries out for help, they are ready to listen to news about rescue.
The third stream is one that God plants for himself, and that is the fulness of zeal. The repeated statements about God’s reactions to his people—hearing, remembering, seeing—signify his purpose to defy the Egyptian gods (with the clearly depicted demonic forces behind them) and reign supreme. We see this kind of divine zeal repeatedly in Scripture. I do not think we are out of bounds to suggest the term psyched to describe it. The narrative turns the corner with the final comment, “And God knew.” Of the four statements on God’s determination, this one alone lacks an object. What does God know? He knows that his work is ready. He knows himself, he knows his people, and he knows his servant. He is ready to act, and no natural or supernatural force will be able to stop him.

Doug Knox

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Man Builders, Part 4

Exodus 3:1-9

Moses, Part 3

SUMMONS, MAJESTY, AND PURPOSE

Understanding Who God Is
A few weeks ago, I inherited the high school and young adult class in our church. Twenty years or so have passed since I taught that age. I did not realize how much I missed working with them until the opportunity arose again. Sunday, I opened with the discussion question, “What does God mean to you?” They dove in, and their insight astounded me. The qualities in the list below came from my students. I divided their responses into two categories:

Characteristics that we labeled “judicial”: These describe who God is:

• Creator
• Supporter
• Declares rules and human responsibilities
• Judge

Characteristics that we labeled “relational”: These describe how God connects to his people:

• Communicator
• Freedom from worry
• Protection
• Savior

Moses’s History and Personal Nature
The distinction between what our class called God’s judicial characteristics and relational characteristics is real. This difference becomes critical for our understanding of his work with Moses. Exodus 1-2, for example, places Israel’s history in the foreground. We watch Jacob’s descendants become a populace to be reckoned with. We observe Egypt’s desperate attempts to control them. Following that, the text shifts the focus to Moses—his birth and memorable preservation, his early character qualities (good and bad), and his exile in the Arabian desert. In all of this, God works in the background. The section closes in relational terms—God caring about his people. Here is an abbreviated quote from Exodus 2:23-25

The people groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help.
Their cry…came up to God.
And God heard their groaning…
And God remembered his covenant…
And God saw the people…
And God knew.

God in the Language of Majesty
Exodus 3-4 records the call of Moses to deliver God’s people. The section begins with the account of the burning bush in the desert.

Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Midian, and he led his flock to the west side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. And the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush. He looked, and behold, the bush was burning, yet it was not consumed. And Moses said, “I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush is not burned.”

--Exodus 3:1-3

During the eighty years that Exodus 1-2 records, God has intervened on his people’s behalf, preserved them through holocaust, and prepared to rescue his people. When God reveals himself to Moses, we might expect a gushing speech on his concern for Israel. Nothing like this happens. The LORD’s introduction to Moses contains not a word about God’s feelings. Instead, it is saturated with the language of majesty.

When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground.” And he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.

--Exodus 3:4-6

The qualities that he reveals about himself use the language that I labeled as judicial for my class. He is holy, he is the God of Moses’s father, and he is the God of Israel’s most revered historical figures, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In other words, he is not like us. He is God. Only then does he reveal his relational concerns about his covenant people, and even this emerges in the language of a summons.

Then the LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters. I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. And now, behold, the cry of the people of Israel has come to me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them.”

--Exodus 3:7-9

His speech is about his experience, his plans, and his observations of his people. Each of these points unfolds as a pair of revelations:

• God’s experience: “I have seen the affliction of my people…,” and “I have heard their cry.”
• God’s plans: “I know their sufferings…,” and “I have come down to deliver them….”
• God’s observations: “The cry of the people of Israel has come to me…,” and “I have also seen the oppression….”

The Magnificent over the Ordinary
Of course, Moses’s personality and experiences factor into his calling, but God never mentions those. He calls him to recognize a nobler purpose, to make God’s name great in the life of Israel. God never calls men to the ordinary. He calls them to think in greater terms. Near the close of his book, No Apologies: Why Civilization Depends on the Strength of Men, Anthony Esolen writes,

Begin and end with worship of God[,] not for what he does for us, but for who he is in himself—his ineffable [meaning incapable of being expressed with words] glory….[N]o one would say, “Just think—the all-loving is, wait a bit, also almighty!” No—that direction does not work. And if our idea of God is all love and no awe, we end up instead with the idol of what is called “moral therapeutic deism”[1]

True men cannot be content with being ordinary. We only deceive ourselves with visions of ease that promise comfort without purpose. God creates men for challenge. He calls us to do great things because he is a great God.

Doug Knox

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[1] Moral therapeutic deism is a descriptive term that is used to describe the unconscious belief system that has become almost universal among young adults of our day. The ideas lie under the surface. One, people believe themselves to be basically moral beings—not perfect, but not corrupt. Two, the primary purpose for morals is to serve as means to make us content. That is, they are therapeutic rather than absolute. And three, the being that we call “God” is anything but the God of the Bible. In this line of thinking, he is only a being who sets the world in motion. After that he leaves us on our own.

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Man Builders, Part 5

Exodus 4:18-31

Men who Know Their Purpose
What makes a confident man? I am convinced that genuine confidence grows when we plant our expectations for ourselves in biblical teaching. Substitutes pander to us from every angle, but Scripture is the only truly fertile ground for manhood.
The key point in Moses’s call story was God’s insistence that he align his purpose with the LORD’s design. “I have surely seen the affliction of my people who are in Egypt and have heard their cry because of their taskmasters…. Come, I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt” (Exodus 3:7, 10). Moses did not have to cast about for a purpose for his life. God called him to a task. I want to cover a short section in Exodus 4 that follows Moses’s experience after his dialogue with the LORD. The account reviews five events that occurred after Moses accepted his call to serve.

The First Event: Moses Maintains his Connection with Family
God’s call for Moses to demand Israel’s release from Egyptian slavery requires a complete change of direction for Moses. For forty years he has been under his father-in-law’s employ. Now, he must go back to Egypt to embark on an entirely new mission.

Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Please let me go back to my brothers in Egypt to see whether they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” And the LORD said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” So Moses took his wife and his sons and had them ride on a donkey, and went back to the land of Egypt. And Moses took the staff of God in his hand.

--Exodus 4:18-20

Moses carries out his responsibilities with dignity. As a result, his father-in-law gives him his blessing. In the same context, he also receives assurance from the LORD that he will not have to suffer interference from the earlier incident with the abusive Egyptian taskmaster.

The Second Event: Resolve
When I conducted my seminary studies, one of the prevailing assumptions among the students, including myself, was that God’s work would be rewarding. Before anything else, we all expected to be happy in the work that God would choose for us. Two realizations could have saved many from disappointment. One, God chooses us for his glory rather than our personal satisfaction. And two, his work involves taking the truth to a world that hates him and anyone who has anything to do with him. While our call proves to be ultimately rewarding, it drives us to confrontation, difficulty, and hardship. God made this clear to Moses:

And the LORD said to Moses, "When you go back to Egypt, see that you do before Pharaoh all the miracles that I have put in your power. But I will harden his heart, so that he will not let the people go. Then you shall say to Pharaoh, 'Thus says the LORD, Israel is my firstborn son, and I say to you, "Let my son go that he may serve me." If you refuse to let him go, behold, I will kill your firstborn son.'"

--Exodus 4:21-23

God’s command for Moses to perform all the sign miracles that he had shown him is never intended to persuade the pharaoh. Rather, God says that he will harden his heart so that he can present his ultimatum, the pharaoh’s firstborn son for God’s firstborn son. The Egyptians regarded their pharaohs to be gods, which makes the LORD’s confrontation with him Creator against counterfeit. God’s intent from the beginning is to break this man who sets himself up to be a divine persecutor of God’s people.

The Third Event: A Lesson in Personal Integrity
Following our call from the Lord is a costly matter. Throughout the Bible, personal integrity is a necessary condition for service. In Moses’s case, the bar was particularly high.

At a lodging place on the way the LORD met him and sought to put him to death. Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses' feet with it and said, "Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!" So he let him alone. It was then that she said, "A bridegroom of blood," because of the circumcision.

--Exodus 4:24-26

These three verses present a dark scene—a stalking God with the intent to kill, a hurried circumcision at a way station, and an enraged wife and mother. The context suggests that the “him” whom the LORD met along the way is Moses’s older son, who was not yet circumcised into the covenant with Abraham (Genesis 17:9-14). If Moses is to go toe-to-toe with the pharaoh, he must act in integrity. “We should note that in the verse immediately preceding this incident (4:23), God said he would slay the firstborn son of Pharaoh when he disobeyed. Here we see the Lord doing the same thing to the firstborn son of moses when he disobeyed.”[1] To be sure, God does not threaten every one of his servants with death if they do not obey. Since Moses is involved in a life-or-death summons to the pharaoh, he must follow the same standards that he would preach.

The Fourth Event: Comradery Restored
Contrary to the popular Hollywood image, tough men acting in solo positions are foreign to God’s plan. We need each other, both for encouragement and accountability. Even Moses functioned with his brother.

The LORD said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he went and met him at the mountain of God and kissed him. And Moses told Aaron all the words of the LORD with which he had sent him to speak, and all the signs that he had commanded him to do.

--Exodus 4:27-28

Notice that Aaron learned all the words and signs that Moses was to speak and perform. Ultimately, because of a real or imagined speech impediment on Moses’s part, God made Aaron his mouthpiece when they confronted the Pharaoh.

The Fifth Event: Confidence in the Vision,
When I use the term vision, I mean it as an idea or ideal that inspires hope—a cause. The vision in Exodus rests on the dream for freedom that God had implanted in his people already.

Then Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the people of Israel. Aaron spoke all the words that the LORD had spoken to Moses and did the signs in the sight of the people. And the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped.

--Exodus 4:29-31

The background for this scene appears during God’s call to Moses. In the third of Moses’s five attempts to refuse the call, he asks, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice…” (Exodus 4:1). In truth, God leaves the possibility of rejection open (Exodus 4:2-9). We face the same contingency. Obeying God’s call does not guarantee “success.” Our confidence will fail if we rely on results. We must rest on the truth itself.

Following Great Examples
We know, of course, that none of us has a mission on par with Moses, and we want to be careful to avoid reducing his call story into an object lesson. But we know that God has a purpose for every man. Granted, our callings will be far smaller than Moses’s call, but they will be no less important to the whole purpose of God in history.

Doug Knox

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[1] John H. Sailhamer, The Pentateuch as Narrative, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1992), 249.

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Man Builders, Part 6

Exodus 5:1-9, 20-23

WHEN EXPECTATIONS FAIL

The Indistinct Meaning of “Success”
Our church has suffered attrition at an alarming rate over the past three years. Losses have not been limited to “ordinary” members. People from top positions have left. Several of our leaders have resigned because—ironically—they were angry over the number of people leaving. Despite multiple efforts to attract our community, visitors have come and gone. Programs meant to produce “exponential growth” (a term that figured prominently in recent board meetings) have fizzled. We struggle to get it right. I do not write this to complain or to mock our church. Instead, I share these because I suspect that many have experienced similar situations. I have been thinking and praying about our circumstances. Patty and I have talked to members in our church whose integrity we respect to listen to their perspectives. Because of my proneness to personal prejudices, I have examined my own motives for thinking the way I do. Perhaps most importantly, I have searched the Scripture to see what it says about similar situations. As a result, I emerge with two observations that give me hope.
The first observation concerns our church. While our losses have been painful, we have seen gains as well. A major milestone occurred a little over a year ago when, following a major abandonment, the church made a covenant before God to carry on our mission. Additionally, some have joined us over the past few months, and they have stayed with us. More importantly, they show an interest in the teaching that they hear. In other words, our growth, while slow, shows depth. My second observation took me completely by surprise. When I looked for Scriptures that spoke about God’s people crying out in desperation when reality crushed their expectations, I realized that the Bible is filled with struggles similar to ours.

A Stunning Reversal of Expectations
One such reversal emerges from Moses’s story. As we saw in the previous installment, Moses and Aaron find an unexpected welcome among their fellow Israelites when they announce God’s intent to free them from slavery. “And the people believed; and when they heard that the LORD had visited the people of Israel and that he had seen their affliction, they bowed their heads and worshiped” (Exodus 4:31). I love the imagery in this sentence. Contrary to contemporary Christianity, which tolerates nothing other than praise, the Israelites’ reaction is solemn. It should be. Their God, who has been silent for so long, has revealed his heart. He cares about them and intends to The elders bow in reverence and gratitude, which is exactly what they should do. Unfortunately, the results fall the opposite direction:

Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’”
But Pharaoh said, “Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.”

--Exodus 5:1-2

Well. A simple demand followed by an equally simple refusal. Moses and Aaron meet the same resistance that all of God’s servants meet. People in power despise competition. In response, Moses and Aaron appeal to Pharaoh’s conscience.

Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the LORD our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.”
But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens.” And Pharaoh said, “Behold, the people of the land are now many, and you make them rest from their burdens!” The same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people and their foremen, “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as in the past; let them go and gather straw for themselves. But the number of bricks that they made in the past you shall impose on them, you shall by no means reduce it, for they are idle. Therefore they cry, ‘Let us go and offer sacrifice to our God.’ Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words.”

--Exodus 5:3-9

Reacting to Setback
The news falls on the Israelite population in short order, and the foremen among the Israelites come back to report the fallout to Moses and Aaron.

They met Moses and Aaron, who were waiting for them, as they came out from Pharaoh; and they said to them, “The LORD look on you and judge, because you have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants, and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”
Then Moses turned to the LORD and said, “O Lord, why have you done evil to this people? Why did you ever send me? For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all.”

--Exodus 5:20-23

Three details occur in succession. First, the king of Egypt rebuffs Moses and Aaron. “Let heavier work be laid on the men that they may labor at it and pay no regard to lying words” (Exodus 5:9). Like a typical bully, he makes a move for dominance. Second, the Israelite foremen shift the blame to Moses and Aaron. “You have made us stink in the sight of Pharaoh and his servants” (Exodus 5:22). Finally, Moses goes back to the God who called him. “Since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name…you have not delivered your people at all” (Exodus 5:23). Neither the enemy nor God’s people see anything but defeat ahead for Israel. However, God has a much greater work in mind. Looking ahead, the LORD reveals that the setbacks have been in God’s hands the whole time. “But the LORD said to Moses, ‘Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land’” (Exodus 6:1). God’s way will involve still more suffering for Israel, but in turn, its end will give God far greater glory.

Reprise: Our Church Situation…and So Many Others
Back to my church. Why do faithful churches struggle with failures like ours? In the opening paragraph, I made the comment, “We struggle to get it right.” The “it” in the sentence represents the unending lineup of just-right human tactics. If only we find The One, everything else will fall in place. The allure for golden results grows from expectations of our own making. They circle the room like reflections from a mirrored dance ball. We point and shoot at the light spots, hoping to capture one, while the Lord whispers, “Wait and see what I will do.”

Doug Knox

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Man Builders, Part 7

Exodus 6:1-9

HIS OATH, HIS COVENANT, HIS BLOOD

The older readers, and hopefully a few younger ones, will recognize the words in the title of this challenge from the hymn by Edward Mote (1797-1874), “The Solid Rock.” It is one of my favorites. The verse that contains the line reads,

His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the whelming flood;
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my hope and stay.

At the close of the previous segment, Moses reported the disturbing news that Pharaoh refused to give ground to Israel. In turn, Israel had placed the blame for their dashed hope on Moses and Aaron. The mission looked like a complete failure. Unknown to them, the LORD has everything where he wants it. In Exodus 6, he responds to Moses with the Old Testament version of the three-pillared assurance: his name, his covenant, and his word.

God’s Name and its Importance to Israel
Moses’s complaint is all too familiar to anyone who has witnessed unexpected results in God’s work. “Since I came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has done evil to this people, and you have not delivered your people at all” (Exodus 5:23). That is honesty. God does not criticize him for expressing his frustrations out loud. Instead, he offers him three foundational assurances that cement his intent to carry out his work. The first involves his covenant name with the nation Israel.

But the LORD said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for with a strong hand he will send them out, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”
God spoke to Moses and said to him, “I am the LORD. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them.

--Exodus 6:1-3

Notice that God announces that he will cause Pharaoh to expel Israel “with a strong hand.” The spiritual powers that reside in Egypt during this time are far more extensive than either Moses or the Israelite populace can comprehend. When God announces, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh…,” his declaration of war reaches beyond the monarch on the throne. He is bent on taking down the cadre of demonic forces that have cloaked themselves as Egypt’s gods as they tried to destroy God’s people. The irony is present in the LORD’s announcement. The same pharaoh thinks he has god-powers will find himself pulverized under the true God’s hand. following his announcement, the LORD returns to the burning bush event, where he introduced himself as the God of the patriarchs (Exodus 3:16-17). He also reminds Moses of the name by which he has attached himself to Israel (see Exodus 3:13-14). His name, Jehovah, “I-am-that-I am,” is a new identity in biblical history. He reiterates the fact that the patriarchs knew him as El Shaddai, God Almighty (see Genesis 17:1). In other words, the announcement of his covenant name is a sign that he is moving forward.

God’s Covenant Relationship to his People
The second pillar on which God rests his intention to act is the covenant that he had cut with Abraham in Genesis 15.

“I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, the land in which they lived as sojourners.”

--Exodus 6:4

Abraham spent the last part of his life in Canaan as a wanderer who owned only the plot of land that he had bought for Sarah’s burial (Genesis 23:1-20). But he believed that God would uphold his covenant (Hebrews 11:8-11). In his covenant with Abraham, God declared that his descendants would suffer for four hundred years as sojourners in a foreign land but would come away with great possessions (Genesis 15:13-14). Here, we stand at the turning point of its fulfillment. God is about to make a public assault against the evil that resides in Egypt. God’s reminder to Moses that he is about to fulfill his covenant with Abraham gives his servant a rock-solid basis for trust. He cannot lie because he cannot go against his nature.

God’s Word for his People
God’s final word returns to Israel’s present suffering and his intent to rescue his people.

“Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the people of Israel whom the Egyptians hold as slaves, and I have remembered my covenant. Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment.”

--Exodus 6:5-6

When God says he has “heard the groaning of the people of Israel…and…remembered my covenant,” his declaration is far deeper than recollection. He is acutely aware of what is happening and is set in his intentions. He will deliver them. He concludes his promise with the anticipation of the near-future covenant that he intends to establish with his people as a nation.

“I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. I will bring you into the land that I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. I will give it to you for a possession. I am the LORD.”

--Exodus 6:7-8

The added comment, “I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians,” refers to the events that will take place in Exodus 19-20 with the pronouncement of the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai.

The Right Man at the Right Place at the Right Time
Sadly, the burden has become too great for the people. Pharaoh has made their labor so difficult that they have become unable to trust God to deliver them.

Moses spoke thus to the people of Israel, but they did not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and harsh slavery.

--Exodus 6:9

We must not fault the people for their lapse in confidence. All that they have seen so far is the man who has returned after a forty-year absence who brings word from a God that they have not seen. However, they are about to witness the authority of a man whom God has prepared through forty years of survival training. Moses will confront Egypt’s gods, including Pharaoh and his son.

Doug Knox

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Man Builders, Part 8

Exodus 9:13-21

GOD’S PURPOSE FOR HIS ENEMIES

Concluding Moses’s Calling
I must confess my deep respect for Moses as a man of God, a prophet, and a Scripture writer. His writings form the roots and trunk of the tree that is the Scripture. Everything that follows in both Testaments draws its strength from the five books that he wrote. However, as reluctant as I am to leave him, I want to retain the focus that I set for the series, the circumstances through which God prepares his servants for his work. We will conclude our study of Moses with the seventh of the ten plagues that the LORD brings on Egypt. His encounter with Pharaoh brings his background circumstances into sharp focus. The text begins with these words:

13 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Rise up early in the morning and present yourself before Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of the Hebrews, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. 14 For this time I will send all my plagues on you yourself, and on your servants and your people, so that you may know that there is none like me in all the earth. 15 For by now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. 16 But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth. 17 You are still exalting yourself against my people and will not let them go.

--Exodus 9:13-17

Clash of the Titans
In the late encounters between Moses and Pharaoh, the tension between the two men skyrockets. Pharaoh is a man who has gotten his own way throughout his life. He is the most powerful man on the planet at this moment in history, wielding an empire, the likes of which the world has never seen. The world’s wealth and culture flow through Egypt. Contrast him with Moses, a Hebrew desert dweller who has been herding sheep for the past forty years. He claims to represent God’s people, whom the Pharaoh and his citizens have been exploiting for centuries. He refuses to go away. Worse, he claims to speak for the Hebrews’ God Moses is no country bumpkin. He also has been trained in the finest Egyptian schools and is every bit the intellectual match for Pharaoh. He knows that God will be successful in carrying out his word

A Turning Point in the Confrontation
A turning point occurs between the fifth and sixth plagues. At the close of the fifth plague, the Egyptian livestock die while the Israelite livestock live. The text observes, “The heart of Pharaoh was hardened, and he did not let the people go” (Exodus 9:6).
The sixth plague become personal. The LORD strikes the Egyptians with boils. When the Pharaoh’s magicians attempt to duplicate the feat, they fail. Then the text declares, “The LORD hardened the heart of Pharaoh…” (Exodus 9:12 emphasis added). The following day, God humiliates the Pharaoh, “By now I could have put out my hand and struck you and your people with pestilence, and you would have been cut off from the earth. But for this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth” (Exodus 9:15-16).

Difficult Theology
These verses have perplexed Bible students for centuries. Does God cause Pharaoh to disbelieve? And if that is true, does God’s interference erase Pharaoh’s personal responsibility? Of course not. On the one hand, we have the record from the narrative. Pharaoh hardens his own heart first. The LORD only adds to it afterward. The deeper question revolves around how God can hold him responsible. If we jump to the book of Romans for a moment, we see that the Apostle Paul anticipates this question in chapter 9, when he discusses God’s sovereign choosing of his people. He quotes the Exodus passage on demonstrating his power in Pharaoh in Romans 9:17, with the added comment, “So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills” (Romans 9:18). Then Paul asks the obvious question: “You will say to me then, ‘Why does he still fund fault? For who can resist his will?’” (Romans 9:18). That is, if God hardens whomever he wants, how can he turn around and cast blame? Paul’s short answer in Romans 9 is that God has a right to do what he wants with his creatures. Lest this sound prejudicial, we need only to recognize that every person ever born inherits Adam’s condemnation the moment we are conceived. From the most common individual to someone as lofty as the Pharaoh, we add our own sins to our nature daily throughout our lives.

Hardening as Acknowledgement
When God “hardens” Pharaoh’s heart, the term means anything but casting interference before him to eliminate any chance of repentance. Rather, it is the judgment by which God acknowledges Pharaoh’s prejudice against God and lets him run with it. God’s acknowledgment is neither neutral nor loving. It is a release from grace. In Romans 1:19-32, Paul discusses the concept in doctrinal terms. Paul introduces this judgmental process as “the wrath of God” that comes about when men look for the origins of truth in anyplace but in God’s glory (Romans 1:19). In response, God allows them to pursue their corrupt desires. Paul uses the statement, “God gave them up…” to describe the judgment. It means that he lets them have what they want. He gives them up first to impurity (verse 24), then to dishonorable passions (verse 26), and finally to a debased mind (verse 28). Pharaoh’s “hardening” in Exodus is simply another way to describe what Paul discusses theologically. Pharaoh resists on his own first. When he commits himself to his own path, God seals his course of resistance.

The Grace that brings Definition
On its face, the description above makes God appear to be committed only to judgment, but that is not the case. We conclude our study of Moses with this passage.

17 “Still you exalt yourself against My people by not letting them go. 18 Behold, about this time tomorrow, I will send a very heavy hail, such as has not been [seen] in Egypt from the day it was founded until now. 19 Now therefore send, bring your livestock and whatever you have in the field to safety. Every man and beast that is found in the field and is not brought home, when the hail comes down on them, will die.”
20 The one among the servants of Pharaoh who feared the word of the LORD made his servants and his livestock flee into the houses; 21 but he who paid no regard to the word of the LORD left his servants and his livestock in the field.

--Exodus 9:17-20

Some criticize the text by pointing out that Egypt lost their livestock in the previous plague. I would not be surprised that they replaced it with Israel’s cattle that had been spared. By this time, the Pharaoh’s star status over his people has begun to wane. Yet some of his servants fear the LORD and listen to Moses’s words and shelter their livestock in anticipation of the hail. The bigger picture lies in God’s grace. Even judgment is a vehicle to call those who will come. Moses, toughened as he is through forty years of desert dwelling, becomes the means for even the Egyptians to seek God’s mercy.

Doug Knox

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Man Builders, Part 9

Jeremiah 1:4-19

Jeremiah—Equipped to Plead, Part 1

THE BRUTALIZED PROPHET

Why Jeremiah?
When it comes to teaching and writing, my brain is wired to think about projects first. Big ideas tend to pop into my head. My practice is to record my thoughts on them before I forget them. When the ideas are on my laptop, I think about how I might be able to develop them into a series. Some fail to germinate, but others show potential.
This is the case with the current series on equipping. When I first thought about the project, I had to ask whether the Bible carried enough material on its significant characters’ backstories. When several biblical characters came to mind, and I realized that this was a study worth pursuing. Like Moses, their lives prior to their mission have much to teach us Jeremiah is the lone exception. We know nothing about his history before God calls him to prophesy. He is the one man in this series who finds himself thrown into his role without preparation. The story of his calling as a prophet at the beginning of the book is traumatic. It reads like someone running a stop sign and T-boning his car in the intersection. Trauma follows him throughout his life. His book moves from one crisis to the next. He protests his calling repeatedly and even curses the day of his birth (Jeremiah 20:14-18). When we read Jeremiah’s story, we watch a man brutalized both by God and the people to whom he ministers. He is a man who receives his armament with his assignments and must take them directly into battle. The “equipping” that we see in Jeremiah takes place on the fly. So, why include him in a series like this? Some of us carry out difficult ministries without appreciation. If this is you, I hope that this study of Jeremiah encourages you.

Go Directly to Manhood. Do not Pass Go…
The book of Jeremiah begins with a critical piece of identity about Jeremiah: “The word of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin…” (Jeremiah 1:1). Jeremiah is a priest whom God calls as a prophet. Following a three-verse introduction that lists the kings under which he prophesied (Josiah and his two sons, Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, the last three kings to reign before Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon takes Judah into captivity), Jeremiah begins his story with the account of his calling as a prophet. As the case will prove to be throughout the book, he finds himself in a dynamic and often bitter relationship with his God. The dialogue begins with the LORD’s words:

Now the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,
and before you were born I consecrated you;
I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

--Jeremiah 1:4-5

“A prophet to the nations.” That is a big call. And if that is not serious enough, look at Jeremiah’s reply:

Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.”

--Jeremiah 1:6

This is no idle complaint. One source points out that young men could become priests at age 13-14. Since Jeremiah objects over his youthfulness, he is likely close to this age.[1] Doubtless, he has trained for the priesthood, but in his prophetic office, he is to go straight “to the nations.” The story of the Old Testament prophets is a familiar one. Some served faithfully under a genuine calling, while others used the office for personal gain. The genuine prophets all faced deep criticism for their truth-telling. In our day, literally anyone can become ordained online. For the men of God who take the time to study God’s word so that they can handle it properly, their reward is often criticism. Jeremiah faces this call while he is in his teens.

God’s Less-than-comforting Reply
God replies to Jeremiah in a manner that will become typical throughout the book. His answer leaves little wiggle room.

But the LORD said to me,

“Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’;
for to all to whom I send you, you shall go,
and whatever I command you, you shall speak.
Do not be afraid of them,
for I am with you to deliver you,
declares the LORD.”

Then the LORD put out his hand and touched my mouth. And the LORD said to me,

“Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.
See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms,
to pluck up and to break down,
to destroy and to overthrow,
to build and to plant.”

And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,

“Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see an almond branch.”
Then the LORD said to me, “You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it.”

--Jeremiah 1:7-12

God’s three-part reply to Jeremiah is dark. First, God ignores his objection for youthfulness. Verses 7-8 essentially tell Jeremiah, “Buck up. I’ll be with you.” Second, when the LORD touches his mouth, he reiterates the message. Jeremiah’s call to pronounce judgment to nations is serious. Finally, the LORD asks Jeremiah what he sees (verses 11 and 12). The question and answer involve a word play. When Jeremiah replies that he sees an olive branch (Hebrew sha-qaed), the LORD tells him that he is watching (Hebrew, sho-qaed) over his word to perform it. In other words, God intends to speak authoritatively and infallibly to Judah and the nations through him. Jeremiah is summoned, drafted, and put to work all in one day.

An Unstoppable Force…with Feelings
When I was in grade school, I was fascinated by the Superman stories. Though I couldn’t express the idea, much of my fascination revolved around the fact that his character was impervious to physical damage or pain but open to emotion, particularly in his secret love for Lois Lane. In one issue, Clark reveals his identity to Lois. The two are sitting on a park bench, and Clark asks Lois to marry him. She tells him, “You know I can’t marry you. I’m in love with Superman.” In the next frame he stands in front of her. He says, “Lois…” and flexes. His shirt and suit tear to shreds, revealing his Superman uniform underneath. (And yes, Lois marries “Clark” and helps him maintain his secret identity.) I read that issue more than any other. We see the same tension unfold tragically in Jeremiah. In Jeremiah 1:13-16, God brings a second vision, this one an early foreshadowing of Babylon’s invasion. Then the LORD tells Jeremiah,

“But you, dress yourself for work; arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the LORD, to deliver you.”

--Jeremiah 1:17-19

God’s promise, “I am with you…I will deliver you,” will turn out to be a hollow assurance for Jeremiah. He will suffer physical and mental abuse under the false prophets. His people will refuse to listen to his message. By the close of the book, his fellow countrymen will kidnap him and drag him to Egypt, the place where Israel was never to return. Jeremiah has much to teach us about how costly the message of grace can be.

Doug Knox

[1]Story of Redemption Bible. A Journey through the unfolding Promises of God, (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway Books, 2001), 1090.

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Man Builders, Part 10

Jeremiah 12:1-13

Jeremiah—Equipped to Plead, Part 4

WHEN GOD IS DISTANT

“Nice” Complaints
Jeremiah 12 features another example of the prophet Jeremiah colliding with life-shattering mysteries. The chapter drops us into the middle of his prayer, a philosophical complaint about the absence of justice in the land:

Righteous are you, O LORD,
when I complain to you;
yet I would plead my case before you.
Why does the way of the wicked prosper?
Why do all who are treacherous thrive?
You plant them, and they take root;
they grow and produce fruit;
you are near in their mouth
and far from their heart.

--Jeremiah 12:1-2

On the positive side, Jeremiah recognizes his right to take his complaint to the LORD. After all, the laments in the Psalms give us freedom and boundaries with questions like the one that Jeremiah asks. The Lord knows our thoughts before we express them (Psalm 139:4), so he is not surprised when we speak them out loud. However, our freedom is not absolute. God provides boundaries for us. The psalmists universally recognize that God, not man, occupies the center of moral authority. They understand the difference between divine justice and human “fairness.” Jeremiah follows this guideline. Given those two considerations, the prophet is careful to qualify his complaint. The first words out of his mouth are, “Righteous are you, O LORD, / when I complain to you.” With this qualifier, Jeremiah aligns himself with the psalmists when they protest over personal issues. This is the meaning that I have in mind for the section header, “‘Nice’ complaint.” Rather than spewing raw emotion, he filters his language through the lens of his theology. Jeremiah’s complaint is a specific one. “Why does the way of the wicked prosper? / Why do all who are treacherous thrive?” Wickedness is a prosperous enterprise in the world. Rather than simply surviving, the wicked trample the righteous. They take root, grow, and produce fruit. The fruit that Jeremiah mentions is different from the New Testament concept of the fruits of righteousness. Their fruit of the wicked describes unrighteous personal gain. The observation, “You are near in their mouth and far from their heart,” exposes specific error. While Babylon erects siege mounds around Jerusalem, false prophets of God promise deliverance. The entire book of Jeremiah is a portrait of the struggle between Jeremiah, who rightly warns of God’s coming judgment on Judah, and the elites around him who pacify the crowds with false encouragement. Men and women like this flourish as much in our day as they did in Jeremiah’s time. They find platforms everywhere, from small groups to stadium-size crowds. And every time, they flatter with their words while they ignore the needy around them.

Jeremiah’s Ruptured Heart
In response to the carnage around him, Jeremiah counters with his personal heartbreak:

But you, O LORD, know me;
you see me, and test my heart toward you.
Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter,
and set them apart for the day of slaughter.
How long will the land mourn
and the grass of every field wither?
For the evil of those who dwell in it
the beasts and the birds are swept away,
because they said, “He will not see our latter end.”

--Jeremiah 12:3-4

Do we not all feel slighted when we witness skewed abundance, when powerful people who despise God and his righteousness continue to prosper? Jeremiah is honest enough to speak the darker truth out loud. When he says, “You, O LORD, know me; / you see me, and test my heart toward you,” he appeals to his personal integrity as opposed to the manipulation that the false prophets practice. His prayer is for God to “Pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, / and set them apart for the day of slaughter.” Note these words well. Jeremiah pleads for justice. The picture of the land suffering—“How long will the land mourn…?”—is more than a metaphor. The land that Israel occupies stands as a sacred promise to Abraham, the father of faith. During his wanderings in Canaan, the LORD told him, “Lift your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever” (Genesis 14-15). The reason for the land’s suffering does not lie with environmental conditions but with moral cause, “for the evil of those who dwell in it…because they said, ‘He will not see our latter end.’” For this reason, Jeremiah calls for the LORD to “pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and set them apart for the day of slaughter.” Again, the call for justice is brutal, but so is the sin that demands it.

God’s Less-than-satisfying Response
Jeremiah’s appeal for God to annihilate the wicked is personal. We would expect no less from such a passionate prophet. However, when we read the LORD’s response to his prayer, we see an in-the-moment answer.

“If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you,
how will you compete with horses?
And if in a safe land you are so trusting,
what will you do in the thicket of the Jordan?
For even your brothers and the house of your father,
even they have dealt treacherously with you;
they are in full cry after you;
do not believe them,
though they speak friendly words to you.”

--Jeremiah 12:5-6

Jeremiah’s question addresses the issue known as theodicy. How can a good God can remain indifferent to the evil that flourishes in the world? The LORD delivers a two-part response to Jeremiah, though neither half answers his question. The first part serves only to call Jeremiah prepare to “compete with horses.” When God compares “a safe land” to “the thicket of Jordan,” the jungles in the Jordan Valley, he applies them to Jeremiah’s situation. In other words, Jeremiah is about to experience far deeper difficulties than what he has experienced so far. One of the deep difficulties that Jeremiah is about to face involves his own brothers, who plan to commit treachery against him.

A Glimpse into God’s Large Plan
A third section gives Jeremiah a glimpse of the thicket of Jordan. God reveals his plans for judgment of his people. Here is the beginning of his pronouncement:

“I have forsaken my house;
I have abandoned my heritage;
I have given the beloved of my soul
into the hands of her enemies.
My heritage has become to me
like a lion in the forest;
she has lifted up her voice against me;
therefore I hate her….”

--Jeremiah 12:7-8

Forsakenness, abandonment, hatred—all from the hand of God. God reveals his plans to Jeremiah first, before he unleashes his wrath on his people. Jeremiah must announce this devasting news to his people during the time that Babylon lays siege to Jerusalem. But he is more than a mouthpiece. His brokenness reflects God’s grief. The Jewish scholar Abraham Heschel describes the relationship between God and his prophet this way:

[The prophet] discloses a divine pathos [the totality of emotions and feelings], not just a divine judgment. The pages of the prophetic writings are filled with echoes of divine love and disappointment, mercy and indignation. The God of Israel is never impersonal.[1]

Part of the reason why God uses Jeremiah so brutally lies with the LORD’s circumstances in his relationship with Judah. He delivers his pronouncement of judgment with a broken heart, and the only fully convincing way for him to accomplish that is to communicate it through an equally broken prophet. God never gives Jeremiah an explanation for his brutal treatment. However, we can make observations on the question. The next installment will cover an even more passionate prayer from Jeremiah. In it, he will confront God over his situation. I will offer some personal comments then.

Doug Knox

[1] Abraham J. Heschel, The Prophets ( New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2001), 29. Emphasis in original

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Man Builders, Part 11

Exodus 17:1-13

Joshua—Equipped to Fight, Part 1

A WARRIOR AMONG LAMBS

The Law of Diminishing Returns
How easy it is for nation to squander its history. The first fourteen and a half chapters of Exodus record Israel’s remarkable journey from Egyptian bondage to becoming a free nation. The sheer magnitude of LORD’s work to deliver Israel shows a God who cannot be stopped.

• Through God’s power, Moses topples the demonic powers behind the Egyptian gods.
• When the LORD is ready to take his people from Egypt, the Pharaoh drives them out.
• Finally, when the Pharaoh changes his mind and sends his army against Israel, the LORD drowns the entire force in the Red Sea.

The section of Exodus that deals with Israel’s deliverance, from the plagues to the drowning of the Egyptian army in the Red Sea, runs from Exodus 4:18 to 14:31. Moses’s song of triumph to the LORD (Exodus 15:1-21) stands as the capstone to Israel’s deliverance from bondage. They emerge as a free nation, guided and protected by the God who loves them.

Portents of Rebellion to Come
Unfortunately, Israel fails to understand what God has done for them. In a stark foreshadowing, a trio of examples illustrates the people’s inability to trust their God to protect them. All three events feature a complaint in response to a difficulty, followed by Gods’ response:

• Complaint: The people find undrinkable water in the wilderness of Shur, (Exodus15:20-24)
  Response: The LORD purifies the water and issues a statute calling for the people to listen to God’s voice, (Exodus 15:25-27)
• Complaint: The people grumble because they are hungry.
  Response: The LORD sends manna with a challenge to trust hm for their provision.
• Complaint: The people thirst for water at Rephadiml.
  Response: The LORD gives them water from a rock, with a graphic object lesson on God’s grace.

A Closer Look at the Complaints and Responses
Ironically, Israel’s first breach occurs on the heels of the song of deliverance following the Red Sea crossing. Beginning in Exodus 15:22, the Israelites arrive at Marah, only to grumble because the water there is undrinkable. In response, God miraculously detoxifies the water and pronounces a statute for the people. “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer” (Exodus 15:26).
The second incident takes place after the people leave Elim for the wilderness of Sin (a Hebrew name pronounced Seen), where the people complain because they are hungry. In response, God sends them manna and quail. The manna comes with a stipulation. The people are to pick up only what they need for the day because the manna will rot overnight. Its short shelf life forces them to trust God for the next day’s provision. However, on Friday, they are to gather double so they can rest on the Sabbath. Because the Sabbath is to be a day of rest, God will preserve their supply before the Sabbaths.
The people fail both tests, hoarding one day and failing to provide for the Sabbath at the end of the week. The LORD expresses his exasperation at their behavior to Moses. “How long will you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? See! The LORD has given you the Sabbath; therefore on the sixth day, he gives you bread for two days” (Exodus 16:26-27). In the third incident, the nation moves to Rephadim, where they complain again because they lack water. It is here that God gives them water from the rock. A remarkable show of mercy follows. The LORD calls Moses to take some of the elders with him, “and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb, and shall strike the rock, and water shall come out of it, and the people will drink” (Exodus 17:5b-6). The symbolism in this act is deep. Throughout the Exodus, Moses’s staff is acts as God’s instrument of judgment. So, when the LORD stands on the rock and calls Moses to strike it, he creates a picture of substitution—God taking the punishment that should fall on his people. Israel remain blind to this reality. Moses calls the name of the place Massah (Testing) and Meribah (Quarreling) “…because of the quarreling of the people of Israel, and because they tested the LORD by saying, ‘Is the LORD among us or not?’” (Exodus 17:7).

God’s Man at the Right Place at the Right Time
These three incidents act as a preamble to foreshadow the history that is to come, both in Exodus and in Numbers. Their refusal to trust their God will stand as a monument against them. Significantly, this is precisely where Joshua appears for the first time. He is a warrior among the lambs. When we meet him, he already serves as a military commander.

Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand. So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.

--Exodus 17:8-10

The attack by the Amalekites introduces Israel to their first opponent. Their encounter with an enemy forces them to develop a strategic outlook. However, the battle does not fall solely on Joshua’s head. Amalek has attacked God’s people, and God stands behind Israel. In a show of supernatural support, Moses stands on top of a hill to hold his staff in the air while Joshua fights. Even here, we see more people involved.

Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.

--Exodus 17:11-13

Clearly, Joshua is a leader with rare qualities. But in this battle, he learns principles that will become evident in his future campaigns during the Conquest. To be sure, he chooses the men with whom he fights, and he wins decisively. But behind him, Moses holds up the staff of God. Further, Aarron and Hur hold Moses’s arms up. And over them all, the LORD oversees the battle. The close of the section marks the historical significance of the conflict.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The LORD Is My Banner, saying, “A hand upon the throne of the LORD! The LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

--Exodus 17:14-16

The conflict runs through generations, with King Saul receiving the order (and failing) to annihilate the Amalekite nation (1 Samuel 15). At the beginning of Israel’s history as a free nation, Joshua establishes himself as a warrior to be reckoned with. Our next installment will show how he grounds himself in worship as well.

Doug Knox

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Man Builders, Part 12

Exodus 24:1-2, 9-14

Joshua—Equipped to Fight, Part 2

PERSUING GOD’S PRESENCE

A Unique Privilege
The Ten Commandments, introduced in Exodus 19 and delivered in Exodus 20, mark the sealing of the covenant between God and his people Israel. The LORD directs Moses onto the heights of Mount Sinai, where he writes his laws onto two stone tablets. Following that, Moses comes down from the mountain to recite the law to his people. God has chosen his people and delivered them from slavery. In return, they are to obey him. Moses’s second ascent occurs following the explanation of the covenant. This time, the LORD has him bring others with him.

Then he said to Moses, “Come up to the LORD, you and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. Moses alone shall come near to the LORD, but the others shall not come near, and the people shall not come up with him.”

--Exodus 24:1-2

This is a privileged audience. We know Moses and Aaron. Nadab and Abihu are Aaron’s two older sons, who act as priests under him. Tragically, in Leviticus 10, they will offer unauthorized sacrifices on the alter during the tabernacle’s inaugural service and be struck dead. With them are seventy of Isreal’s elders.

Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank.

--Exodus 24:9-11

This peaceful audience before the LORD is unusual. Isaiah and Ezekiel offer similar accounts of their visions of God (see Isaiah 6:1-7 and Ezekiel 1-10), but their experiences are traumatic. Moses’s account is filled with the wonder of the moment. The privileged few eat and drink in God’s presence.

Joshuas’s Stubborn Presence
At this point, the narrative takes an announced turn.

The LORD said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God. And he said to the elders, “Wait here for us until we return to you. And behold, Aaron and Hur are with you. Whoever has a dispute, let him go to them.”

--Exodus 24:12-14

God’s command to come up marks Moses’s second ascent on the mountain, this time to receive the stone tablets, “with the law and the commandment, which I have written for their instruction.” Exodus 20-23 records Moses’s dictation of the commandments and laws. Here, he prepares to return with the stone tablets that will carry legal weight for the nation. Aaron, Hur, and the seventy elders appear to be with Moses to bear witness to their authority, but why does Joshua command such a high place, even over Aaron, the high priest, Hur, and the seventy elders? He alone goes up with Moses while the others stay behind to take care of business.

A Dark Chapter in Israel’s History
While Moses is on the mountain, two events occur that shape Israel’s immediate future. In the first, the LORD gives him the plans for the tabernacle and the ark of the covenant (Exodus 25-31). Unfortunately, while the LORD reveals the tabernacle to Moses, Aaron goes back down to make the golden calf (Exodus 32). When Moses returns from the mountain with the stone tablets, the scene plays out like a married partner finding his or her spouse in bed with another partner. The people have crippled their relationship with the LORD (Exodus 33:1-6). Flash forward to Exodus 33:7-11. The passage is a narrative summary of Israel’s relationship with Moses and the LORD following the golden calf incident. The language suggests that the arrangement remains throughout Israel’s forty years in the desert.

Now Moses used to take the tent and pitch it outside the camp, far off from the camp, and he called it the tent of meeting. And everyone who sought the LORD would go out to the tent of meeting, which was outside the camp. Whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people would rise up, and each would stand at his tent door, and watch Moses until he had gone into the tent. When Moses entered the tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance of the tent, and the LORD would speak with Moses. And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship, each at his tent door. Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.

--Exodus 33:7-11

Several points emerge from this paragraph. Together, they will contribute to a final insight on Joshua’s preparation for service as Israel’s future military general during the Conquest.

• The word for tent in the first sentence is a different term than tabernacle. It refers to Moses’s personal dwelling, now planted “far off from the camp.” The pillar of fire rests here. In the middle of the camp, the tabernacle stands unoccupied.
• The people are separated from Moses. They watch him enter his tent, but they no longer approach him.
• When the pillar descends, the people stand at their tent doors to worship from a distance.
• Moses continues to speak to God “face to face,” reflecting a standing that only he possesses (Deuteronomy 34:10-12).

Joshua’s Final Appearance in Exodus
A final statement in the summary mentions Joshua. Exodus 33:11 reads, “When Moses turned again into the camp, his assistant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.” The sentence looks like an interjection, a statement that is thrust into the paragraph as an afterthought. I believe it is more important than that. The statement stands in contrast to both Aaron (the high priest!) and the entire population who turned to idolatry the moment that Moses went up into the mountain.
He is the only recorded character to stand against the idol rebellion, and now he places himself in God’s presence. From the beginning, Joshua has planted his feet in conscious, deliberate worship. His unbreakable character trait from the beginning has been to count God’s presence to be more desirable than human foolishness. Both his stand and his actions grow from his sense of worship. Our next segment will look at the well-known account of the twelve spies’ report on Canaan, recorded in Numbers. Then we will conclude our thoughts on Joshua with a brief glimpse into his actions during the preparation for the Conquest.

Doug Knox

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Man Builders, Part 13

Exodus 31:1-8

Joshua—Equipped to Fight, Part 3

COMMISSIONED FOR VICTORY

The Honor in Military Service
I graduated from high school during the height of the Vietnam War. The draft lottery, the Department of Defense effort to choose by birthdates rather than social status, was in force that year. Lottery numbers ran from 1 – 366, corresponding to the calendar days per year, with lower numbers more likely to be called to serve. Those with numbers lower than 90 anticipated their “Greetings…” letters. Having grown up in a church culture that looked down on service that involved potential killing of other human beings, I was certain that the Lord would give me a high number. My number was 28. With my father’s recommendation, I joined the Air Force, where, for the next four years, I performed my military duties while I struggled with how a real Christian could honor God as a fighting man. My church’s mantra came from 1 Chronicles 28:3, where David declared his disqualification from building a temple for God. “But God said to me, ‘You may not build a house for my name, for you are a man of war and have shed blood.’” As far as we were concerned, that settled the matter for us. We read far too much into the verse. It does not mean that military men (and here we can include law enforcement) are relegated to a lower level of spirituality because of their fighting experience. It simply meant that God wanted the temple that Solomon ultimately erected to be a civilian project free from militaristic overtones. The temple could not belong to David the warrior-king and stand as the focal point for Israel’s worship. It had to be neutral territory.

Military and Spiritual
Some of the most renowned men in Scripture held military positions. Abraham fought kings with his private army (Genesis 14). Moses led Israel on a dual campaign against Kings Sihon and Og (Numbers 21:31-35). Gideon routed the Midianites during the period of the judges (Judges 6:11 – 7:25). David subdued his enemies and left a peaceful period for his son Solomon’s reign When the centurion who sought Jesus’s favor for his sick daughter told Jesus only to say the word rather than follow him to his house, Jesus exclaimed, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith” (Luke 7:9). Similarly, Joshua enters his storyline as a warrior. Without apology. Our first study of Joshua showed his military gifts. The moment he steps into the narrative, he displays incredible tactical prowess under Moses. This is no accident. Whether Joshua knew God’s plans or not, the LORD was preparing him to lead Israel’s future Conquest of Canaan. This would be impossible without competency in battle. The previous segment showed Joshua’s equal dedication to worship. Following the golden calf rebellion, Moses pitched his personal tent “far off from the camp” to meet with the LORD there. When he returned to the camp, Joshua stayed in the tent. On the one hand, the passage shows that he valued the LORD’s presence highly. Similarly, the LORD accepted Joshua’s presence before him. These two qualities—competency to fight and devotion to worship—are virtues that walk hand in hand. The Lord uses them in men.

Commissioned for a Purpose
At the close of Deuteronomy, Moses commissions Joshua to take Israel on to the next chapter in their history. But God’s work was not for Josuha alone. In calling Israel’s new leader to carry out the task that he intended, God calls the people to devote themselves to Joshua’s governance. Here is what Moses tells Israel near the close of Deuteronomy:

So Moses continued to speak these words to all Israel. And he said to them, “I am 120 years old today. I am no longer able to go out and come in. The LORD has said to me, ‘You shall not go over this Jordan.’ The LORD your God himself will go over before you. He will destroy these nations before you, so that you shall dispossess them, and Joshua will go over at your head, as the LORD has spoken. And the LORD will do to them as he did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when he destroyed them. And the LORD will give them over to you, and you shall do to them according to the whole commandment that I have commanded you. Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

--Deuteronomy 31:1-6

This part of Moses’s commissioning speech, the public portion of the ceremony, stresses three points:

• The work of the Conquest originates in God’s heart. It is a matter both of promise for Israel and of justice for the nations in Canaan that have invited God’s wrath through their heinous deeds.
• The LORD intends to complete it.
• Unlike the first generation that stumbled in fear, Israel’s second generation holds the responsibility to carry out the mandate. They are to be courageous in their mission.

Following his words to the nation, Moses turns to Joshua.

Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

--Deuteronomy 31:7-8

Here are the points that Moses presses on Joshua:

• He is to be courageous in his responsibility to lead the people because his mission is God-ordained.
• The LORD goes before Joshua to complete his mission and promises to stay beside him.
• Joshua has God’s promise of presence. With that, he is to be courageous in his mission.

Practicing God’s Presence
Of course, Joshua’s commissioning lies in the context of Old Testament Israel. We are not called to go out and conquer other nations in our day. However, the principles that we follow are similar. Here are some of the elements that I have witnessed among the men whom I respect. I find these essential for actively practicing God’s presence among us:

• Dedication to prayer
• Commitment to studying God’s Word devotionally, that is with a view to comprehending God’s will for us individually
• Dedication to worship and fellowship with like-minded believers, especially men
• Developing a conscious sense of purpose in our vocation
• Commitment to encourage other believers to strive for maturity in their Christian lives, as well as seeking encouragement from those whom we respect

The list is incomplete. I would love to hear feedback on other points that might be added. These principles are biblical, however, and they consist of both private and public disciplines. We need both for maturity in Christ.

Doug Knox

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Man Builders, Part 14

Joshua, Selected Passages

Joshua—Equipped to Fight, Part 4

KEEPING HISTORY ALIVE IN WORSHIP

A Brief Look-back at Joshua’s Ministry
If any man stood in danger of becoming overconfident from his accomplishments, Joshua was that man. His military and spiritual career has been brilliant. He is one of few men in Scripture whose record was without blemish. When he first appears following the Exodus from Egypt, Isarael stands precariously. The holocaust is over, and the nation is free. The LORD has broken the Egyptian gods with the plagues and has drowned the Egyptian army in the Red Sea. At the same time, four hundred years of brutality and oppression have left them emotionally wounded. They do not know how to think like free people, and they certainly know nothing about defending their freedom. Joshua’s entry into this setting in Exodus 17 is so subtle that we walk past it without noticing its significance. When Amalek attacks, Moses tells him, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek…” (Exodus 17:9). That is, “Pick a bunch of untrained, unprepared troops, arm them with whatever might work as a weapon, and lead them against the enemy who has attacked us.” Thankfully, the LORD fights supernaturally behind the scenes. While Joshua fights, Aaron and Hur help Moses hold the rod that signifies judgment in so many instances. The success of the battle ultimately depends on both the action and intervention, but we must note that Joshua complies without hesitation Joshua is not only a fighter, however. He also is an uncompromised worshiper. It is he who accompanies Moses on the mountain where the LORD entrusts Moses with the stone tablets. And following the LORD’s retreat from the camp after Aaron’s rebellion with the golden calf, Joshua cements himself to him in Moses’s tent. However, Joshua makes his mark as Israel’s commanding officer during the Conquest. Here, he graduates from the title, “Joshua, son of Nun, Moses’s assistant” (Joshua 1:1), to the far more respectable, “Joshua, son of Nun, servant of the LORD” (Joshua 24:29). Three events at the beginning of the Conquest reveal his attention to detail. All three show deep ties to worship.

The First Event: Memorial Stones
When Israel is ready to enter Canaan, they camp east of the Jordan River. To enter Canaan, they must cross the river, which, in the harvest season, is in flood stage (Joshua 3:15). The event parallels the Red Sea crossing forty years earlier. Just as the LORD held the waters from the sea when he delivered Israel from the Egyptian army, he holds the waters of the Jordan River now. When the priests set foot in the water, the river stands in a heap upstream, and the people cross on dry land. While they cross, Joshua gives this command:

“Take twelve stones from here out of the midst of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests’ feet stood firmly, and bring them over with you and lay them down in the place where you lodge tonight.” Then Joshua called the twelve men from the people of Israel, whom he had appointed, a man from each tribe. And Joshua said to them, “Pass on before the ark of the LORD your God into the midst of the Jordan, and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the people of Israel, that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever”

--Joshua 4:3-7

With a stone for each tribe, the monument connects with all the people. It also holds historical significance for the future days, “when your children ask.” Finally, it signifies reverence. Nothing in the monument boasted of human accomplishments. The twelve stones taken from the exposed riverbed celebrate the LORD’s work on behalf of the people, tying their heritage to the promise that God had given Abraham in Genesis 1:5:16.

The Second Event: Renewal of Circumcision
Joshua’s restoration of the rite of circumcision again harkens back to Abraham, as the sign of the covenant that the LORD had made with him (Genesis 17:9-14, 22-27). The command had disappeared from the nation during forty years of wandering.

At that time the LORD said to Joshua, “Make flint knives and circumcise the sons of Israel a second time.” So Joshua made flint knives and circumcised the sons of Israel at Gibeath-haaraloth. And this is the reason why Joshua circumcised them: all the males of the people who came out of Egypt, all the men of war, had died in the wilderness on the way after they had come out of Egypt. Though all the people who came out had been circumcised, yet all the people who were born on the way in the wilderness after they had come out of Egypt had not been circumcised. For the people of Israel walked forty years in the wilderness, until all the nation, the men of war who came out of Egypt, perished, because they did not obey the voice of the LORD; the LORD swore to them that he would not let them see the land that the LORD had sworn to their fathers to give to us, a land flowing with milk and honey. So it was their children, whom he raised up in their place, that Joshua circumcised. For they were uncircumcised, because they had not been circumcised on the way.

--Joshua 5:2-7

The generation that left Egypt marks an ironic low moment in Israel’s history. The multiple generations that had endured slavery before them had kept circumcision—and with it their hope for freedom—alive. However, the first free generation became so enamored in their selfishness that they forgot their heritage. Joshua’s act of renewing the sign of Abraham’s covenant shows his attention to the rites that preserved the people’s connection to the covenant with Abraham.

The Third Event: The Reinstitution of the Passover
The renewal of the Passover marks a critical milestone in Israelite faith and history. It is the feast that the LORD gave the people to preserve the lives of their firstborn children when the angel of death passed through Egypt (12:1-13). Once again, the irony in this picture is thick. The very generation that had been freed during the first Passover apparently felt it was too unimportant to bother to keep. That omission changes here, with significant consequences.

While the people of Israel were encamped at Gilgal, they kept the Passover on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening on the plains of Jericho. 11 And the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate of the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. 12 And the manna ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land. And there was no longer manna for the people of Israel, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year.

--Joshua 5:10-12

The picture in this scene is vivid. The Passover marks more than the humility to worship the LORD in the way that he had prescribed. It marks the single most important act of deliverance in the Old Testament, Israel’s release from slavery. The LORD commanded his people to keep the feast “throughout your generations, as a stature forever” (Exodus 12:14). Joshua has lived through the final days of slavery, deliverance, and wandering. Now he stands ready to make his mark as one of the great leaders in biblical history.

Doug Knox

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Man Builders, Part 15

Judges 6:1-14

Gideon—Equipped to Stand, Part 1

STRENGTH THROUGH WORSHIP

The Strange Condition that Drives the Book of Judges
As we have seen in the previous challenges, Joshua stands as one of the great leaders in the Bible during one of the most glorious periods of Israel’s history. The period of the judges follows this, when Israel steps into moral freefall. If Joshua’s triumphal leadership shone so brightly over his generation, how did the nation lose their moorings and drift out to sea? The brief answer appears in Judges 2. The people failed to recognize how deeply they needed their God, and they let go of their grip on him. In God’s words,

Now the angel of the LORD went up from Gilgal to Bochim. And he said, “I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give to your fathers. I said, ‘I will never break my covenant with you, and you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall break down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed my voice. What is this you have done? So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare to you.”

--Judges 2:1-3

The ensnarement that the angel of the LORD promised would not crash on Israel like an avalanche. It would become a cancerous moral decay that would bring rot from the inside out for almost 300 years. Two opposing dynamics drive the decline of Israel during the period of the judges. The larger and steadier force is the people’s loss of their moral compass. Over the course of time, the nation’s sense of moral principle vanishes. Simultaneously, the LORD provides smaller and more temporary fixes. These are the individual judges who rise up to rescue the people. We could picture them as ocean waves rolling to shore while the tide goes out. The waves bring back the water momentarily, but they cannot stop the tide from receding. The pull draws the ocean water away from the level that it was at high tide. One of the dark features of Judges is the people’s abandonment of God during its two hundred-plus-year history.

• The book records no long-term devotion to the LORD.
• Levitical priests and worship at the tabernacle are absent entirely.
• A lone prophet, God’s appointed person to carry his word, appears over the course of the book.

Gideon’s Place in Judges
Gideon occupies probably the brightest section of the book. His portrait shows the most vivid interplay between human fear and moral courage. Through his unfolding drama, we will be able to gain insight into how this reluctant but thoughtful man developed the courage to lead. Judges 6 begins with a dismal commentary on Israel’s moral condition. Part of the section reads,

The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD gave them into the hand of Midian seven years. And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds. For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. They would encamp against them and devour the produce of the land, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey.

--Judges 6:1-4

The close of the passage describes how the people are brought “very low” and cry out to God for help. In response to their cry, an unnamed prophet brings a sobering message:

When the people of Israel cried out to the LORD on account of the Midianites, the LORD sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery. And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. And I said to you, ‘I am the LORD your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not obeyed my voice.”

--Judges 6:7-10

An Unacknowledged Show of Courage
Oddly, the prophet’s challenge closes without commentary. No one acknowledges him or challenges him. On the surface, the prophet’s message appears to have failed. How ever, the next section arises directly from the prophet’s message. Here we meet Gideon for the first time, along with the angel of the LORD.

Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.”

--Judges 6:11-12

I have mentioned before that the title, “the angel of the LORD,” in the Old Testament signifies the appearance of the LORD himself. Here, he appears as an ordinary human being. He will not reveal his actual identity until verses 19-24. When the angel of the LORD appears, he sits under a terebinth tree. The terebinth is a large native tree that grows a thick canopy. It would be a natural place to escape the heat of the sun. The area belongs to Joash the Abiezrite. Together with his son Gideon, they thresh wheat in a winepress, “to hide it from the Midianites.” More than once I have heard preachers criticize Gideon for acting cowardly when he threshes the wheat in a winepress. I want to ask them, “Have you read the text?” The introduction has told us already that the Midianites and their camels invade the land “like locusts without number” while they lay the land waste (Judges 6:5). Gideon and his father’s actions are cowards. They are more like the French resistance during WWII. The picture we see here is defiance in the face of danger. The LORD’s own words to Gideon are, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.” No doubt, Gideon has learned this kind of courage from his father. They two men defend what is rightfully theirs in the face of an imminent threat.
Their courage is commendable. It stands as a fitting tribute from a father who has taken time to teach it to his son. Even the LORD recognizes it.

An Unrecognized Second Source of Courage
There is more, however. Following the LORD’s greeting, a very short dialogue ensues:

And Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.”
And the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?”

--Judges 6:13-14

This is where we discover the link between the prophet’s earlier message and the angel of the LORD’s appearance before Gideon. Gideon is not being presumptuous with his outburst. He employs the language that is used in the psalms of laments on behalf of the people. The formula consists of two parts:

• In introduction that recognizes God’s past deeds among the people: “You once did this, LORD….”
• A counterbalancing response that pits the people’s current situation against God’s mighty works in the past: “But look at us now. Where are you…?”[1]

This form of persuasion is designed to call God to act again as he has in the past. It is what the prophet in Judges 6:7-10 had in mind when he rebuked the nation:

• He reminded the people of God’s past deeds among them, (Judges 6:7-9).
• He told the people to look to the LORD for deliverance instead of appealing to the gods of the Amorites, (Judges 6:10).

Gideon’s encounter with the LORD reveals his second source of courage, his dogged persistence in trust. This is why the LORD replies, “Go in this might of yours….” “This might” represents the faith that the nation has lost but Gideon retains.

The Intent to Awe Again
Two features of God’s command stand out. First, the LORD turns to face Gideon. In including this comment, the narrator shows the seriousness of God’s command. Gideon is the soul member of God’s audience. Second, the command is large. “Save Israel from the hand of Midian.” As we will see, fulfilling the command will call Gideon to employ his natural and supernatural courage.

[1] Psalms 44:1-16 and 89:1-45 are laments of the people that build cases like this on a large poetic scale. Similarly Jeremiah 2:1-8 rebukes the people and religious authorities of his day because they have neglected to use this kind of leverage.

Doug Knox

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Man Builders, Part 16

Judges 6:13-21

Gideon—Equipped to Stand, Part 2

FAITH-BUILDING THROUGH CHALLENGE

Three Cables of Personal Strength
The previous segment, as you may recall, closed with the angel of the LORD meeting Gideon to deliver a message that on the surface strikes us as absurd. Against the background of Midian oppression that has driven Isreal to despair, he greets Gideon with the words, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor” (Judges 6:12). Hebrew narrative is very brief, so we must read it carefully to notice where it is going. The narrative reveals three cords of strength in Gideon. The first arises from the opening, where Gideon and his father determine to carry on with their wheat harvest by hiding it in a winepress. Their action tells the Midianites, “Not here. Not now. Not my family.” The angel’s greeting recognizes the kind of internal strength that rises through difficult circumstances. It is a combination of anger fused with determination, and it is personal. Gideon’s response to the greeting reveals the second cord, his ability to think realistically about difficult situations. At this moment, he believes that he is talking to another man, and this belief allows his response to be raw.

“Please, sir, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all the wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt? But now the LORD has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.’”

--Judges 6:13

When Gideon asks the why question, he directs the issue to the LORD’s apparent failure to rescue Israel. Obviously, we know why from the book’s earlier context, but the issue in the immediate context identifies Gideon’s complaint as a lament. This is not an arbitrary interpretation of the text. Jeremiah 2:4-8 records a plea from the LORD for his people to use precisely this wording to challenge him. Further, the Jeremiah passage pronounces their refusal to challenge him in this way as the pursuit of worthlessness. Gideon’s skepticism is not a pronouncement of despair, but a statement of his active faith in God. The third cord becomes evident from the pronouns in the dialogue. In the English language, the word you can refer to either an individual or a group. We determine whether the meaning is singular or plural through context. Most other languages, including Hebrew, differentiate between number the same way that the number distinctions, I/we or he/she/they, do. The angel’s greeting speaks to Gideon alone. “The LORD is with you [singular], O mighty man of valor.” Yet Gideon ignores the praise and pleads for Israel instead. “Please, sir, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us?” This is humility. He regards his people more highly than his personal glory. Gideon’s display of self-awareness, determination, and humility in this dialogue is unique in the book of Judges. No other judge is recorded as thinking this carefully. Unfortunately, Gideon’s later story will be doomed to follow the pattern of decay that dominates the rest of the book. For this moment, though, we have one of the strongest displays of godly manhood in the Bible.

Potential Courage versus “Kinetic” Courage
When I studied physics in high school, our class studied the all-important difference between potential energy and kinetic energy. A fresh battery, for example, contains a certain amount of potential energy. It is available for use but not currently being used. If we hook the battery up to a drone and launch it, the potential energy in the battery changes into kinetic energy to power the drone. During his encounter, Gideon displays great potential courage. However, he needs to put it to larger use, to convert it into “kinetic” courage, or the commitment to walk in a greater faith challenge. When the LORD witnesses Gideon’s personal fortitude, he calls him to this task. The next section of dialogue introduces this part of Gideon’s saga.

And the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?”
And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”
And the LORD said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”
And he said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.”
And he said, “I will stay till you return.”

--Judges 6:14-18

Gideon’s task to “Go…and save Israel from the hand of Midian” will be a large one, and for the moment, it is far greater than anything that he had expected. Great things are reserved for great men, and Gideon is not great. In fact, his clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and he is the least in his father’s house. His objection is like Moses’s. “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11). So too is God’s reply, “But I will be with you” (Judges 6:16; compare with Exodus 3:12). In other words, as important as one’s background is, great deeds are not reserved for great men. Rather, hard deeds transform good men into greater ones.

Humble Questions over “Blind Faith”
Too many times, I have heard people call others to “blind faith,” even regarding their salvation. What they think they mean is absolute trust that demonstrates its merit through its acceptance of whatever presents itself to them. Actually, “blind faith” means, “Don’t ask questions.” A leap in the dark is only naïve ascent to anything that comes along. It is a mark of immaturity rather than sensibleness. Gideon’s request for the LORD to give him a sign for confirmation is a wise one. It is a request for legitimation, something that will show him that the man before him speaks with proper authority. This request is fully in line with the Apostle call to test the spirits to see whether they are from God (1 John 4:1). The test will involve a concrete demonstration. Gideon requests that he be allowed to prepare a meal, and the angel promises that he will wait. When Gideon brings out the meal, we see this:

So Gideon went into his house and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the terebinth and presented them.
And the angel of God said to him, "Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them."
And he did so.
Then the angel of the LORD reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes. And fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of the LORD vanished from his sight.

--Judges 6:19-21

This is the answer to Gideon’s request. Now he realizes whom he talked to and why he was so authoritative. We will pick up here in our next segment.

Doug Knox

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Man Builders, Part 17

Judges 6:22-35

Gideon—Equipped to Stand, Part 3

OVERCOMING NATURAL TIMIDITY

Courage as Recognition of Authority
When the angel of the LORD finishes his dialogue with Gideon, he reveals his identity by taking his staff and touching the meal that Gideon offers. The meal is consumed, and the LORD vanishes from his sight. We return to the narrative at this moment.

Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the LORD. And Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord GOD! For now I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face.”
But the LORD said to him, “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.”
Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD and called it, The LORD Is Peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites.

--Judges 6:23-24

Preparation for the Greater War
This event closes the scene in which God calls Gideon. Gideon recognizes the LORD’s intent to maintain peace, and he honors him by building an altar Yhweh-Shalom, the LORD is Peace. His reverie is short-lived, however.

That night the LORD said to him, “Take your father’s bull, and the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it and build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of the stronghold here, with stones laid in due order. Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you shall cut down.”
So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the LORD had told him. But because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night.

--Judges 6:25-27

This short passage is filled with irony. Gideon’s father, apparently a prominent man in Ophrah, owns an altar to Baal and an Asherah pole beside it. An Asherah pole is a fertility symbol. In a defiance gesture, the LORD commands Gideon to take two of his father’s bulls. One he must use to pull down the altar to Baal and the Asherah pole. Then he must cut the Asherah pole into firewood and use it to sacrifice the second bull. The picture represents an in-your-face mockery to the foreign gods in the land, not to mention his father’s adopted religion. However, Gideon, because he is “too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day,” carries out the deed by night. The courage we saw in the pervious segment for Gideon to face the LORD and challenge him on his own merits must grow into courage that takes the challenge to God’s enemies on those same merits. The step is a large one. Yes, we may criticize Gideon, but I, for one, hesitate to point the finger. The number of times that my personal courage has lagged far outnumbers my prouder moments.

An Unexpected Ally
Of course, Gideon’s deed becomes evident with the daylight. Quickly enough, the townsmen determine that Gideon is the guilty party, and they demand that his father give him over for execution.

When the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built. And they said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” And after they had searched and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.” Then the men of the town said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has broken down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it.”
But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been broken down.”
Therefore on that day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he broke down his altar.

--Judges 6:28-32

Gideon’s father Joash appears only in verses 11 and 25-32 as a supporting character in the Gideon saga, but his role is a pivotal one for Gideon. Judging from the altar to Baal and the Asherah pole, he is a man of influence in the town. That Gideon lacks his father’s stature is clear when the men of the town demand the young man’s presence to execute him following the destruction of the two religious objects. For whatever reason, though, Joash forsakes his idols and defends his son, causing a complete reversal in the way that the townsmen view Gideon. In a single day, he launches from a rebel who receives death threats to a new hero who received the nickname Jerubbaal.
All because of his challenge, If [Baal] is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been broken down.” Does Joash’s change of heart grow out of the camaraderie that he and his son experienced during their defiance of the Midianites (Judges 6:11-12), or does Joash discover a newfound respect for his son in this incident?

War at the Doorstep
The Bible is silent on that question. However, we see two distinct character changes occur. In one, Joash’s challenge registers. If Baal is all he is supposed to be a god, then he should defend his altar. Of course, he doesn’t, and the realization galvanizes the townsmen. The other change involves Gideon himself as he makes the connection between what God has called him to do and the unexpected support from his father. The changes occur none too soon.

Now all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East came together, and they crossed the Jordan and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. But the Spirit of the LORD clothed Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him. And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they too were called out to follow him. And he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them.

--Judges 6:33-35

The moment when the Spirit of the LORD clothes Gideon is a powerful one, but also one that has made a long circuit to bring him from the underground operative that he was to the tribal leader that he is becoming. Let me offer a personal observation. Accounts of courage like this one are necessarily brief, and this can make the make the growth of courage appear to be much faster than it appears. I suspect that raw, instantaneous courage is likely a rarer commodity than what we think. It probably grows slowly, as it did with Gideon.

• He does not realize who he has extraordinary potential until the angel of the LORD greets him with the words, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor” (Judges 6:12).
• He sees the value of his personal faith only when the angel acknowledges his lament as a mature form of worship and tells him, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian” (Judges 6:14).
• When he counters that his personal liability is great, the LORD counters with the promise of his presence: “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man” (Judges 6:16). At the close of encounter, the LORD manifests his identity by consuming the meal that Gideon has set before him (Judges 6:21-24).
• He is given a task that makes his stand risky before others (Judges 6:28-29).
• In the middle of the conflict that could ruin him, he finds an unexpected ally when his father steps up to defend his stand (Judges 6:30-31).
• Only then does Gideon possess the charisma that makes other man desire to follow him (Judges 6:32).

Even with all this, Gideon still lacks an arrival moment. Our next study will show that courage remains a virtue to be sought even among the brave.

Doug Knox

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Man Builders, Part 18

Judges 6:36 – 7:1

Gideon—Equipped to Stand, Part 4

ANOTHER HURDLE TO COMMITMENT

A Curious Lapse at the Last Moment
Our pervious episode with Gideon left him on moral high ground. Following the destruction of his father’s idol to Baal and his Asherah pole, his father Joash did the surprising thing and rallied behind his son. With both father and son implanted in the LORD’s camp, the tribes rallied around Gideon the moment that Midian positioned themselves to attack Israel. According to Judges,

But the Spirit of the LORD clothed Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him. And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they too were called out to follow him. And he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them.

--Judges 6:34-35

It is here that Gideon’s most well-known request for validation from God occurs.

Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.”

--Judges 6:36-37

The Tightrope Walk Between Anxiety and Faith
From one perspective, we might be tempted to point the finger. Gideon’s introduction, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said…,” sounds a lot like unfaithful Israel’s repeated challenges when they were in the wilderness. Does he really believe that God will do what he said? However, if we back up a step to remember our own struggles, we can recall times when we have been in just that situation. All of us have heard the Lord’s call for a particular action, we watched the circumstances fall into place, and we have confirmed the venture with others whom we trust. Yet, when the moment came to committing to our faith venture, we question our reason.
Personally, I find the narrative very comforting when I continue to read, because the LORD honors his request.

And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water.

--Judges 6:38

God’s answer is unmistakable. Incredibly, though, Gideon asks the LORD for the sign to be reversed.

Then Gideon said to God, “Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew.”
And God did so that night; and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.

--Judges 6:39-40

God’s Encouraging Sendoff
Sometimes, God provides this kind of undeniable affirmation of his will in a particular situation. When Gideon sees dew on the ground while the fleece is dry, his determination becomes set.

Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

--Judges 7:1

The Bible is silent about what occurs after Gideon sees the dry fleece. We do not know whether he runs out to shout the news about the fleece or whether the incident implants itself deeply enough in his mind to press him forward to rally the clans. Whatever the cause, the narrative shows a determined man. One of the milestones of manhood occurs when our will tells us that the time for second guessing is over, and the time for commitment has arrived.

Doug Knox

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Man Builders, Part 19

Deuteronomy 17:14-20

David—Forged Masterpiece, Part 1

JUDGES, KINGS, AND DYNASTIES IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

Author’s note
I have chosen to conclude the Man Builders series with a study on David. We could not think of a richer story of character development through hardship than this man. His growth as a man unfolds before our eyes. This first two installments will provide necessary background material for the series. It will be more technical than usual, but it will place God’s plans for David in perspective. My prayer is that God will encourage all of us.
Doug Knox

Jumping to Conclusions too Quickly
Anyone who has listened to a reasonable amount of Old Testament teaching knows about the prophet Samuel’s warning to Israel when they requested that appoint a king rule over them. Pastors and teachers have quoted God’s words to Samuel time and again. “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being a king over them” (1 Samuel 8:7).
For most readers, this verse closes the books on the matter. Most Bible students interpret the verse under the assumption that the heavenly King and the earthly king stand in opposition to each other. We can have either one but not both. However, there is more to the biblical account than a black and white alternative. Think about David’s reign for a moment. If God were as dead set against a human king as what we take from 1 Samuel 8:7, then David could not have achieved the level of greatness that he did. We need to look at God’s words to Samuel in two contexts. This segment will look at biblical history from Moses’s time to the moment when Israel demands a king. The next segment will 1 Samuel 8:7 in its own context.

A Closer Look at Kingship in Israel
In biblical history, a passage in Deuteronomy 17 sheds light on our question about God’s words to Samuel. There, 300 years before King Saul, the LORD gave the nation permission to request a king to rule them. Here is what Moses said, long before the people demanded a king:

“When you come to the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ you may indeed set a king over you whom the LORD your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the LORD has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.
“And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.”

--Deuteronomy 17:14-20

The passage above divides into two paragraphs. The first lists the external groundwork for establishing king. These requirements are straightforward:

• The people are free to call for a king.
• God will choose the man for the role.
• The king must be a native Israelite.
• The king will be restricted from assembling an oversized army, collecting a harem, or amassing excessive wealth. (These restrictions reflect the typical kings in the surrounding nations. Israel’s king is to stand apart.)

The second paragraph focuses on character questions for the king himself. These requirements reflect God’s concern that the king

• The king is to make a copy of the Torah (the five books of Moses), “that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by learning all the words of this law…” (Deuteronomy 17:19).
• He is to rule faithfully and humbly, “so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children in Israel” (Deuteronomy 17:20). In other words, God promises a dynasty for the king whom he finds faithful.

The kings in the surrounding nations rule by power. God’s purpose for his kings in Israel is for them to rule by example. They are to be moral anchors, guided by God’s Word.

Israel’s Unhinged History from Moses to Samuel
Israel’s pre-king history lurches through peaks and troughs like ocean waves during a hurricane:

• Falling into a trough: When Moses sends the twelve spies to reconnoiter the land of Canaan in preparation for the conquest (Numbers 13 – 14), the people who have been delivered from slavery in Egypt surrender to fear. They are convinced the Canaanites will wipe them out. Consequently, the LORD condemns them to wander in the desert until the whole generation dies (Numbers 15:1 – 26:65).
• Vaulting to a peak: Following Israel’s forty years of wandering, Joshua leads the second generation through its triumphs in Canaan (the Book of Joshua).
• Slipping back into a trough:After Joshua dies, Israel forgets their history. The early judges in the Book of Judges succeed in delivering Israel for short periods, but the book records diminishing returns. By the end of the book, Israel lies on the brink of death.
• Learning to yearning for God:The book of 1 Samuel rises out of the ashes left in Judges. It begins with a peasant couple, Elkanah and Hannah, worship the LORD in the way that Moses had taught. God honors Hannah’s lament over her barrenness by giving her a son named Samuel. From a young age, the boy prophesies to Israel and teaches them how to yearn for God (1 Samuel 3:19-21; 7:1-7).

Samuel is a unique character in biblical history. He is conceived when Hannah, a baren woman, begs the LORD for a son and promises to lend him back to the LORD all his days (1 Samuel 1:11). Hannah fulfills her promise to the LORD and presents him to Eli the priest (1 Samuel 1:21-28). As Eli’s adopted son, Samuel takes on the duties of a priest (1 Samuel 3:1). The LORD calls Samuel early as a prophet, using him to bring his word back to Israel (1 Samuel 3:2-21). Finally, Samuel assumes judgeship over Israel, an office that he carries until his old age (1 Samuel 7:15-17). His authority is extensive. He is the only character in the Bible to occupy the offices of priest, prophet, and judge. He fails to provide a dynasty, however. In his old age, when he tries to pass the torch to his two sons, they rule corruptly (1 Samuel 7:15 – 8:3). The people reject this and demand that Samuel provide a king for them. It is in this context that the dialogue about the merits of a human king emerges between the LORD and Samuel. We will pick up the text at this point next time.

Doug Knox

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Man Builders, Part 20

Deuteronomy 17:14-20

David—Forged Masterpiece, Part 2

ISRAEL’S TRANSITION FROM JUDGES TO KINGS

Israel’s Shift from Judges to Kings
All the judges who appear in the Book of Judges exert limited influence in Israel. Their influence is largely tribal. Only Samuel, Israel’s last judge, achieves national authority. His integrity is limited, however. In his old age, when he passes the office to his sons, Joel and Abijah, the young men corrupt their rule by taking bribes (1 Samuel 8:1-2). In response, the elders come to Samuel and ask for a king to rule them. Here is what the LORD tells Samuel:

“Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being a king over them. According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you.”

--1 Samuel 8:7-8, emphasis added

Typical church teaching has emphasized for generations that this moment marks a downturn in Israel’s history, that the LORD would have preferred judges over kings. This belief ignores the context of 1 Samuel 8. Israel’s rejection of their God is more than a momentary idea that flashes into their heads. It reflects the history that has been going on since the Exodus. Therefore, the dialogue about a king is deeper than a sudden change of heart. Here are some features of Israel’s history that I believe are important for understanding the nation’s shift from a tribal federation led by judges to a unified nation ruled by a king.

• The transition to rule by judges after Joshua dies is neither deliberate nor planned. It occurs when Israel stumbles morally. The LORD delivers the nation into subjection to their enemies first. When the people come to their senses and cry out, God raises up a judge to deliver them. In other words, the judges act as rescuers rather than leaders in God’s plan.
• While the judges deliver Israel from their enemies, they are unable to implement moral leadership over Israel (Judges 2:16-17).
• The three-hundred-year period in the Book of Judges is marked by one moral failure after another. Further, the quality of leadership under the judges deteriorates over the course of the book.
• The book closes with a rambling, three-part postscript that states its moral twice—once at the beginning of the narrative in Judges 17:6, and once at the very end in 21:25. “In those days there was no king in Israel [and] everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” Between the two bookends, self-indulgence degenerates to the most horrifically recorded act of mass brutality in the Bible. Situational ethics rule throughout. The section is a commentary on Israel’s demise as a nation during this time. Without a king to act as their moral compass, the people flounder.
• The two statements in Judges about the absence of a king in Israel give us insight into the instructions for kings in Deuteronomy 17. There, the LORD commands that the kings are to make copies of the Torah (the books of Moses) for themselves. The command appears in Deuteronomy for a reason. As a nation, Israel never develops the spiritual maturity to follow God consistently. The king, whom God chooses (Deuteronomy 17:15), becomes the moral leader who is to stand in the gap between the LORD and his people. He is required to rule justly and act as the people’s moral compass. He accomplishes this by making a personal copy of the Torah and meditating on it (Deuteronomy 17:18-20).

In the context of God’s instructions on kings’ duties, Deuteronomy 17:8-13 declares what he requires of priests and judges. They share legal duties in cases “requiring decision between one kind of homicide and another, one kind of legal right and another, or one kind of assault and another” (Deuteronomy 17:8). Judges are never given authority to rule in Israel. From the beginning of Israel’s existence as a nation, the LORD sets kings as spiritual leaders of their people. This is why the king is to own a copy of the Torah.

Saul and David
Saul, of course, is Israel’s first king. His early reign is marked by dramatic success (1 Samuel 9:1 – 13:7). Then his performance takes a downturn. His later deeds manifest an increasing obsession to please Samuel and appear competent before his troops. His death knell occurs when Samuel announces, “But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.” (1 Samuel 13:14). From that point on, he sinks ever deeper into panic and self-preservation. Saul’s ultimate failure occurs, I believe, because he tries to maintain his authority by his own efforts. He does not own his faith. Scripture lacks even a single instance in which he consults the Torah for guidance.
It is David who enters the narrative as a man after God’s heart. His zeal and love for God are evident to all, and he stanches the wound that Saul leaves in the nation. At the same time, he steps into predatory territory from the beginning. Saul’s increasingly frantic drive to destroy David will continue for years. But this very persecution will drive David to cling even more tightly to his God. In the end, it will temper him like steel.

Doug Knox

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Man Builders, Part 21

1 Samuel 16:12-14

David—Forged Masterpiece, Part 3

DAVID’S SECRET ANOINTING

A Calling in Quietness
Anyone who has grown up in a Bible-teaching church knows the circumstances behind David’s replace of Saul as Israel’s king. The prophet Samuel delivers the sobering message to Saul, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor or yours who is better than you” (1 Samuel 15:28). Following this announcement, the LORD directs Samuel to Jesse in Bethlehem to perform a secret anointing for the one whom the LORD has chosen. Once the shock of Samuel’s surprise visit to the village subsides (1 Samuel 16:4-5), Jesse has his sons pass one at a time before Samuel, beginning with his oldest son Eliab. Each time, the LORD tells him, “Not this one.” When Jesse’s seven oldest sons fail God’s solitary qualification, to be “a man after his own heart” (1 Samuel 16:7), Samuel insists that Jesse call his youngest from the field where he shepherds the sheep. This brings us to David’s call story, possibly the quietest account of such a nature in Scripture.

And [Jesse]sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the LORD said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.
Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him.

--1 Samuel 16:12-14

The typical reaction for the man at the center of a call story (and there are many) is for him to chafe. Of the men that we have studied in this series, Moses asks, “Who am I?” Jeremiah claims to be too young. Gideon cannot imagine one as unimportant as he rising to deliver Isreal. Only Joshua pursues his call from the beginning, but he appears to be driven by a natural zeal for the work from the beginning. David’s call story consists of three simple statements. First, David’s appearance is healthy. He is ruddy, has beautiful eyes, and is handsome. The description conveys a level of intelligence in the young man that his family apparently has failed to notice. Second, the moment Samuel sees David, the LORD commands him to anoint the young man. Samuel obeys. Third, the Spirit of the LORD rushes upon David “from that day forward.” Then Samuel returns to his home in Ramah. Following this description, the narrative switches back to Saul, to show that the Spirit has abandoned him. The “evil spirit from the God” that replaces God’s Spirit does not mean that God has performed wickedness. The term evil can mean calamitous or harmful, which is what appears to be the case here. The LORD’s pronouncement of dismissal torments Saul.

The Contextual Meaning of the Spirit Rushing on David
Meanwhile, what are we to make of the Spirit rushing upon David? We can learn from the earlier text. Forty years prior to David, two occasions of Spirit rushing come upon Saul. When Samuel first meets him, he makes him the guest of honor in a secret feast. The feast includes Saul’s first anointing (1 Samuel 9:27-10:1). Then Samuel dismisses him three signs that will corroborate God’s intent to make him king. The third sign is, “Then the Spirit of the LORD will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with [the group of prophets that you meet] and be turned into another man” (1 Samuel 10:16).
The three signs follow Saul as Samuel promised. In the final instance, the Spirit rushes on Saul and causes him to prophesy. This rushing appears to demonstrate to Saul that God is serious. Sometime later, Samuel performs a public anointing at Mizpah (1 Samuel 10:17). Here, the people’s reactions are mixed. Some believe in Saul’s competency while others express doubts. Saul’s future as king appears unpromising. It is in this context that the second rushing overtakes Saul. In 1 Samuel 11:1-11, the Ammonites lay siege to Jabesh-gilead and threaten to enslave them. The residents go to Gibeah, where Saul lives, and report the situation. Shocked, the people in Gibeah mourn the news. At this moment, Saul returns from the fields and hears the news. The effect is dramatic.

And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled. He took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, “Whoever does not come out after Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen!” And the dread of the LORD fell upon the people, and they came out as one man.

--1 Samuel 11:6-7

Saul’s muster overwhelms their grief and galvanizes the nation. The people join him and rout the Ammonites. Saul’s forty-year reign begins with this act of power by the Spirit. For a time, he rules successfully, but decay eventually creeps into his rule. During his later years, he struggles for control. Flash forward to David’s anointing. The differences between Saul and David are striking.

• First, Saul became king through public demand. Isreal knew that they were about to receive a new ruler. By contrast, The LORD decides to call David as the new king. “The word of the LORD came to Samuel: ‘I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments’” (1 Samuel 15:11). Only Samuel and Saul know that God is about to act. Where Saul’s reign began through common interest among the people, David’s anointing is covert.

The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.”
And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.”
And the LORD said, “Take a heifer with you and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.”

--1 Samuel 16:1-2

• Second, where Saul’s private anointing takes place with ceremony (1 Samuel 9:15 – 10:8), David’s comes about as “a sacrifice to the LORD” (1 Samuel 16:2). Details are absent. All we have is the statement, “Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers” (1 Samuel 16:13). When the anointing is finished, he leaves for Ramah
• Finally, the difference between the Spirit rushing on the two men is subtle but important. Earlier, when the Spirit rushed upon Saul, the effect was public and dramatic. The shock in seeing Saul act in such a kingly matter galvanized the nation around him. In David’s case, the effect creates internal change. “And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon David from that day forward” (1 Samuel 16:13 emphasis added).

My Personal Conclusions
A friend of mine made an insightful observation about Saul. He said the man was like a lottery winner. He received virtually instantaneous power and wealth but never gained the temperament to handle them. Without the chance to develop self-discipline, he lost self-control. David’s experience of the Spirit “from that day forward” reflects the opposite scenario. He does not immediately become king. In fact, the Bible mentions nothing about even an announcement that he would be king. The anointing appears to be a completely clandestine mission where Samuel enters, shuffles through Jesse’s older sons, and settles on David. Then he leaves. I believe that the family, including David, remained ignorant about the purpose of the anointing. The events that follow fit into this interpretation seamlessly. Rather than being thrust into power and fame all at once, as Saul was, David acquires the discipline to rule through experience. We will focus on this as we move forward.

Doug Knox

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Man Builders, Part 22

1 Samuel 14-23

David—Forged Masterpiece, Part 4

PLANTED ACCORDING TO GOD’S TIMING

Divine Placement
In the previous study, I conjectured that Samuel kept the purpose of his anointing of David a secret. Samuel’s invitation to Jesse and his sons to join him in a sacrifice served as a cover against Saul’s prying eyes (1 Samuel 16:1-5). The text suggests that he anointed David and left without telling anyone what the anointing meant. In that brief account, two pivotal events occur. One, the Spirit of the LORD rushes upon David “from that day forward” (1 Samuel 16:13). Unlike the dramatic rushing of the Spirit that Samuel launched Saul into prominence forty years earlier, the Spirit ministers to David internally. The phrase, “from that day forward,” implies permanence. Where Saul reacts in extremes, the Spirit’s presence in David becomes a stabilizing factor.
Conversely, the next verse declares that the Spirit departed from Saul, leaving an “evil spirit from the LORD.” Here, we can understand the word evil or harmful to mean chaotic, the complete loss of God’s peace. If we understand the text this way, the events that follow make perfect sense. God’s invisible hand leads David to the precise place that he wants him:

Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the LORD tormented him.
And Saul's servants said to him, “Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. Let our lord now command your servants who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will be well.”
So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.”
One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the LORD is with him.”

--1 Samuel 16:14-18

Saul’s servants understand a principle that men discovered in the first generations of history. Music carries an incredible ability to soothe tormented individuals (see Genesis 4:20-21). It can tell the truth about suffering without condemning its audience.

The Narrative Genius in Depicting “Coincidence:
The passage above communicates on a deep level as it strings several “coincidental” events related to Saul malady:

• The servant who speaks to Saul understands music’s ability to provide comfort from torment. He also recognizes that men’s spiritual dimension plays a critical role in the torment in the first place. He also grasps the need for a man of quality. He must be “skillful in playing the lyre.”
• Saul recognizes the wisdom in the servant’s suggestion and affirms it.
• Meanwhile, another servant has heard of David, who comes with accolades on several levels. The servant’s praise marks him as “a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence.” And the comment, “The LORD is with him,” affirms the Spirit’s presence.

The plan behind the “coincidence” is impossible to miss. The young man who suggests David might be able to help Saul knows nothing about God’s larger plan. However, we as readers see God’s hand directing David toward Saul’s house.

David in Preparation
The second half of the scene unites Saul and David. David shows no indication that he perceives these events as a path leading to kingship. He enters as a skilled servant who is ready to serve.

Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.”
And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul. And David came to Saul and entered his service.
And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.”
And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.

--1 Samuel 16:19-23

As readers, we witness God’s divine purpose in these events. The characters, however, see only their present circumstances. David uses the gifts that God has given him, and in turn, Saul comes to trust David. In the end, he makes David’s service a permanent position. Saul knows nothing of David’s anointing. If he did, he never would have let the young man into his house. By the same token, David remains ignorant wishes to use him to shape Israel’s history. If he did know, he would jump on the opportunity to pull himself up. To borrow from our contemporary media-obsessed language, he would work to build his platform. This part of Scripture shows the effects of the LORD’s Spirit rushing on David. God has given David more than simple musical ability. He has graced him as “a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence” (1 Samuel 16:18). Saul’s servant recognizes that “the LORD is with him.” David’s journey to the throne will be arduous, but the difficulties that he will face will shape his character. His early ministry with Saul will show him how to exercise true humility among royalty. He will learn that power entails more than privilege. It calls for personal constraint.

Doug Knox

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Man Builders, Part 23

1 Samuel 17:1-18

David—Forged Masterpiece, Part 5

ENDINGS AND BEGINNINGS

Setting the Background for David’s Entrance
The Bible reveals David’s character deliberately. Against the background of God’s rejection of Saul, it first introduces him as a young shepherd (1 Samuel 16:11-13), and then as a skilled musician (1 Samuel 16:14-23). During the secret anointing in 1 Samuel 16:13, the Spirit rushes on David “from that day forward.” 1 Samuel 16:21 mentions that Saul made him his armor bearer but withholds detail about what he may have seen during his duties.

David’s duties as armor bearer ease him into life among royalty. Unlike Saul, who found himself thrust from a position of virtually no account (1 Samuel 9:21) directly to the most preeminent position in the land, David has the chance to acclimate himself.

Even though we know relatively little about David so far, the Bible presents him as an entirely different character from Saul. Where Saul descends into desperation in his struggle to maintain the appearance of success, David is unconcerned about such matters. He is a man who is content to live in God’s presence. One author observes, “From the beginning David has a vitality never attributed to Saul.”[1]

1 Samuel 17 introduces the pivotal episode in David’s calling, his encounter with the giant Goliath. The chapter begins with Israel locked in immobility before the Philistine threat:

Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines. And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them.

--1 Samuel 17;1-3

From the beginning of the chapter, the Philistines own the narrative. “They were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah… And the Philistines stood on the mountain on one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them.”

No one fights. Instead, the Philistines intimidate Israel in psychological warfare:

And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span [over nine feet]. He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze [around 125 pounds]. And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron [around 15 pounds]. And his shield-bearer went before him.

--1 Samuel 17:4-7

Goliath is intimidating, and he uses his visage to humiliate the Israelites.

He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” And the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.”

--1 Samuel 17:8-10

Israel cowers. The paragraph concludes, “When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid” (1 Samuel 17:11).

David’s Entrance
Following this disturbing overview, the account introduces David quietly, taking time again to remind the readers of his humble origins.

Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years. The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. David was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul, but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening.

--1 Samuel 17:12-16

The contrast between Goliath’s arrogance and David’s humility could not be more sharply portrayed. The beginning of the episode portrays Goliath as the ultimate fighter—gigantic in stature, imposing in his appearance, and decked in armor and weaponry. He is the invincible adversary.

David, meanwhile, is the youngest son of an already old man who, unlike his three oldest brothers who serve in Saul’s army, goes “back and forth from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem.” The space devoted to David’s description here amounts to little more than a third that given to Goliath.

Then the Bible inserts a comment that seems out of place at first reading. “For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening” (1 Samuel 17:16).

In Scripture, the number 40 represents completion, preparation for God’s purpose, or movement from one narrative chapter to the next. For example,

• The rain in the Genesis Flood continues forty days and nights.
• Moses stays on Mount Sinai for forty days while he waits for the LORD to give him the Ten Commandments.
• Following their failure of nerve in Numbers 13-14, the first generation of free Israelites wander in the wilderness for forty years while God judges them.
• Later in the book of 1 Kings, the prophet Elijah travels for forty days from the Northern Kingdom where he prophesies to Mount Sinai.
• At the beginning of his ministry, Jesus spends forty days in the wilderness.

“In Sacred Scripture, the number “40” signifies new life, new growth, transformation, a change from one great task to another great task, etc.”[2]

“Boundary of Bloods”
That exact cycle occurs here with Goliath’s 40-day period of harassment at Ephes-dammim, meaning “Boundary of Bloods” in the original language (1 Samuel 17:1). Goliath and David approach a face-off from which only one will return alive.

The introductory section of the account closes with two points of irony, both dealing with character reversal. First, now that the forty days have ended, Goliath will meet his own end. He struts into the valley as Philistia’s champion, but soon will lie dead.

Meanwhile, the introduction foreshadows David’s reversal with an innocuous statement:

And Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers. Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. See if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them.

--1 Samuel 17:17-18 emphasis added

As far as his family is concerned, David remains the least significant member. He approaches the battle with a menial task. Jesse has no idea how large the reversal that is about to take place will be. His very act of sending his youngest son to bring some news back from his three important brothers will establish David as Israel’s champion and launch him into the role that the LORD has prepared for him as the rightful king of Israel.

Conclusion
In this part of the narrative, we must look closely for definite signs of God’s preparation through David’s circumstances. This is largely because the writer focuses so much on Goliath’s bragging. Scripture gives us a hint, however. David is faithful in the quiet part of his life. When his father sends him to assess his brothers’ well-being, he does what he is told to do. In other words, David honors his father’s wishes. His faithfulness in this area will signal the same consistency in other areas as well.

God works in a man’s life slowly and often invisibly. The media-saturated world craves instantaneous recognition, but such a thing is foreign to God’s plan. God never calls us to be successful. He calls us to be faithful in the little things.

[1] Walter Brueggemann, First and Second Samuel, Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 1990), 128.

[2] Fr. Wade Menezes, Fathers of Mercy, “The Significance of ‘40’ in Sacred Scripture,” https://fathersofmercy.com/the-significance-of-40-in-scripture/. Emphasis in original.

Doug Knox

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Man Builders, Part 24

1 Samuel 1:19-37

David—Forged Masterpiece, Part 6

THE DRAWING OF THE FIGHTER

A Magnetic Attraction to the Cause
Following the lengthy introduction on the Philistine champion, the writer of 1 Samuel turns his focus to David, who enters the Israelite camp to deliver the bread and cheese that his father had provided for the troops. The contrast between the character presentations is dramatic. The writer introduces Goliath in static terms—what he is. He emerges as a spectacle. “And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion…” (1 Samuel 17:4). He is imposing, he stands decked with armor, and he taunts Israel as though the battle is over before it begins. He is a man who lives in his self-confidence. When the writer turns to David in verse 19, he describes a quiet entry that focuses on what he does. David enters as a background character whom nobody notices at first. And unlike the self-obsessed Philistine champion, he finds himself irresistibly drawn to the action that he discovers before him.

Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line, shouting the war cry. And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. And David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers. As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him.

--1 Samuel 17:19-23

I like the writer’s sense of detail. When David rises early in the morning, it is from his father’s house. The description of his actions indicates that he is a young man who understands responsibility. He honors his father’s wishes in a mundane task, and he leaves the sheep with a keeper. That is, he shows enough foresight to provide for his father’s livelihood. Only when he arrives on the field does he see Goliath for the first time. Unlike the rest of the nation, however, he shows an entirely different impression of the Philistine champion. David cannot resist the call to action.

All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid. And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel.”
And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
And the people answered him in the same way, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.”

--1 Samuel 17:27

The dialogue in this paragraph suggests that the men who whom David speaks recognize him as an outsider. The paragraph contains some great irony. In the first place, the men who talk to David are “very much afraid,” and in their fear appear to be bent on passing on the news about the single warrior that has paralyzed Israel’s troops in the most woeful terms possible. In the second place, “the king,” as they call Saul, has made a ridiculous offer for the one who would be foolish enough stand against Goliath. The one who defeats Goliath will have Saul’s daughter, but of course he will be dead. However, the deal is not futile to David. His “What shall be done…” response to the men who talk to him amounts to a cha-ching moment for him. “Did I hear you rightly?”
From this point on, David stands over every other man on the field. The king and all his subordinates cower. To a man, they are powerless. David, the passionate God fearer, says, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

Family Conflict
The next scene depicts a brief argument between Eliab and David:

Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.”
And David said, “What have I done now? Was it not but a word?” And he turned away from him toward another, and spoke in the same way, and the people answered him again as before.

--1 Samuel 17:28-29

Eliab’s lingering prejudice emerges with his comment on “those few sheep in the wilderness.” He believes that David has acted alone and has abandoned the sheep. If we think about the family’s arrangement, his annoyance makes sense. The three oldest boys serve in Saul’s army. Four younger brothers remain at home. And David, the youngest, appears on the battlefield in the middle of Israel’s humiliation. The youngest brother, the one whom the whole family has cast off because of his standing in birth order, has come nosing around at the most embarrassing moment possible. David’s response to Eliab, “What have I done now? Was it not but a word?” suggests that this kind of provocation has been going on for a long time. Ironically, (again), dismisses his brother in favor of his interest in Saul’s offer. This young man, who continues to act under the seizure of the Spirit of God, sees a genuine opportunity. He is the only man on the battlefield who considers marriage to the king’s daughter seriously. He thinks like a hero. The question is why, and the answer emerges from the next paragraph.

Spinning Wheels
Eliab’s brief complaint is interrupted by bigger affairs. Word about David has reached Saul’s ears, and he wishes to see this young man.

When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him.
And David said to Saul, “Let no man's heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”
And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.”

--1 Samuel 17:31-33

At first, David’s confidence appears to be braggadocious, simply because he perceives himself to be in opposition to every warrior present. His words, “Let no man's heart fail because of him,” anticipate an I’ll-save-the-day attitude, the very kind of bravado that takes the lives of too many would-be heroes. However, this is not the case. He says humbly, “Your servant will go and fight with his Philistine.” David is not a glory hound. He knows that the LORD will take out the champion, this man who is only a Philistine intruder in God’s territory.

“Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” And David said, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”
And Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you!”

--1 Samuel 17.36-37

Two Anchors for Faith
David’s claim to faith manifests at least two anchor points. One is his passion, which rests on the Spirit rushing that occurs following his anointing (1 Samuel 16:13). Its abiding “from that day forward” is evident in David’s remark that the Philistine champion “has defied the armies of the living God.” He sees what others cannot. The other anchor had to be planted long before the day that David was anointed. It involves his commitment to self-discipline in his thinking. David has taught himself to recognize the LORD’s work when it takes place and then to apply that same principle when the next challenge arises. He demonstrates this awareness when he tells Saul, “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” The account belongs to David, but this part applies to any man of God. To be ready for the Lord to work with us, we need both the foundation of sound thinking and passion. Without sound thinking, passion runs unchecked. “Faith” becomes a leap in the dark that glitters only by the degree of its outlandishness. Absurd faith claims may sound convincing, but they require God to play to our demands rather than the other way around. In biblical language, such things put God to the test. The man who claims them elevates himself over God. Conversely, we can rest on all the right thinking about our faith, but without the passion to trust in the Lord to continue to do great things, we risk complacency.

A Final Point of Irony
Following David’s brief speech, Saul tells him, “Go, and the LORD be with you!” David does go, and he demonstrates the LORD presence in stunning fashion. But Saul’s words will haunt him. With the Spirit absent, his life will become a downward spiral until he dies in battle at the close of 1 Samuel.

Doug Knox

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Man Builders, Part 25

1 Samuel 1: 38-49

David—Forged Masterpiece, Part 7

ILLEGITIMATE AND LIGITIMATE BOASTING

The man Who Struts Versus Man Who Delivers
We all have put up with him, and we all know who he is. The man who knows everything a little better than everyone else, the man who boasts first, the man who is restless unless he dominates the group. His faith, his knowledge, and his confidence are a step ahead of everyone else. He is discontented until he has acquired a following. Inevitably, he reaches a point where his boasting begins to sound like fingernails on a chalkboard. By this point, the only way to shut him up is to shut him down through a genuine display of skill, drawn from a completely different well. This is what happens when the LORD decides to squelch Goliath’s boasting. David stands up to the braggart. Speaking to Saul, communicates what God has done. “The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine” (1 Samuel 17:37). His appeal convinces Saul, and Saul consents to letting him face the Philistine. However, old habits die hard.

Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them.
Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.

--1 Samuel 17:38-40

David has moved from the interview to the job, but he realizes quickly, as Saul and his advisors must as well, that if he approaches Goliath on equal footing, he is doomed. He employs his skill set, something for which Goliath is unprepared.

The Deeper Message in the Verbal Confrontations
Not surprisingly, the confrontation begins with boasts by both men. The narrator uses the dialogue between David and Goliath to communicate the deeper meaning of the confrontation. The real issue involves the powers behind the armies—Goliath’s gods versus the Hebrew God. The narrator begins with Goliath’s response. As we would expect, he reacts in disgust at the sight of the unprotected and presumably unprepared young man approaching him.

And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance. And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.”

--1 Samuel 17:41-44

Goliath reacts like anyone who is full of himself. He is incensed that an untrained kid would challenge him publicly. “Am I a dog…?” In the character of ancient warfare, he curses David by the gods that he believes support his cause. And he boasts in himself. “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds….” David’s response is much lengthier than the champion’s challenge. It is the message that the narrator wishes his readers to understand:

Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, and that all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give you into our hand.”

1 Samuel 17:45-47

We do not witness these kinds of confrontations at every point in the Bible, but when we do, they follow the pattern that we see here. David’s speech is a classic example of a confrontational affirmation of the faith that he knows to be true.

• Goliath enters with sword, spear, and javelin, the best human elements in confrontation. David counters, “But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts [in the original language, “Yahweh of the Armies”].
• David reminds his enemy that he has defied the true God. His gods, by whom he has cursed God’s man, are nothing in comparison. David’s speech, therefore, is neither boasting in kind, nor is it an effort to bolster himself in the face of a difficult challenge. It is the necessary reply to one who believes entirely in himself. David confronts Goliath with the truth, even if the champion fails to realize the fact.
• David’s condemnation is explicit. His slaughter will begin with Goliath. He will cut off his head and then proceed to “give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines…to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth….” He probably still does not realize the reality of his future, but he speaks like the king that he is.
• The purpose for this elaborate and explicit set of declarations is twofold. Externally, it is that “all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.” The phrase, “all the earth,” occurs frequently in both Testaments and includes God’s friends and enemies. The LORD has never been only the King of Isreal. He is the God of all the earth who has chosen Israel to be the people through whom he will manifest the glory that belongs to him alone.
• David also understands that God’s people have lost sight of the source of their own salvation. He makes this speech so that “all this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the LORD’s.”

The Character of the Claim as a Barometer of Faith
Without question, David makes extreme claims. His vow to remove Goliath’s head and then litter the ground with the bodies of his fellow warriors so the carrion eaters can feast. And this is why the passage is curious. David’s claims are extravagant, but something in the narrative compels us to believe him. Why is this? It is more than simply knowing the outcome in advance. The character of his claim speaks convincingly. His words stand on their own. To understand what this quality is, let me make a brief comparison between David’s claim and the claims that characterize contemporary Christian praise music. Vocal music often reflects claims of one sort or another. In popular music, we have Whitney Houston’s ever hopeful, “And I will always love you.” At the other end of the spectrum lies Roy Orbison’s, “From this moment on, I’ll be crying over you.” Both songs project the singer’s current circumstances into the future. If we look at contemporary praise and worship music, much (if not almost all) of it rests on affirmation. Statements like, “I’ll always praise you,” “I’ll never stop loving you,” or “I’ll praise you even when I am down,” rule the genre. Listen to a praise and worship music station, and praise songs go on by the hour. Here are some of the characteristics that we hear on the media and in our churches:

• The writers generally are young and lack difficult life lessons. Many have yet to experience grief and to learn what it does to build faith in God.
• The music and lyrics focus on our feelings rather than our intellect. They call the listeners to accept the claims at face value.
• Human nature compels us to project the characteristics of that moment into the future. (When I am comfortable now, I want to believe that my comfort will continue.)
• The vague character of the promise discourages serious consideration regarding its dependability.

David’s battlefield claim stands in opposition to contemporary worship music claims. They reflect a reality of life that has given David a unique depth in his faith:

• He has experienced difficult life experiences as a shepherd. These include attacks by a lion and a bear. He is also experienced in his life He displays a solid work ethic.
• David’s speech against Goliath is aimed directly at his enemy’s thinking in the moment. He could not have made him any angrier.
• Rather than making unspecific, feeling-based claims, David makes humanly impossible declarations. His claims have nothing to do with a momentary endorphin rush. He faces a man who can kill him.
• David’s claim is specific. It will either stand or fall before the day is over.

We have seen David only since 1 Samuel 16, but we know him as God’s hero. We believe what he says because we know his heroism is grounded.

Doug Knox

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Man Builders, Part 26

1 Samuel 17:50-58

David—Forged Masterpiece, Part 8

A STRANGE ADDENDUM TO THE BATTLE WITH GOLIATH

The Conclusion of the Rout over Goliath
1 Samuel 17 closes with two paragraphs—one describing Israel’s rout of the Philistines, and the other showing Saul’s questionable reception of David following the battle. The first paragraph concludes the one-on-one confrontation between David and Goliath:

So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.

--1 Samuel 17:50-51a

Whether Goliath’s death occurs with the stone or by his own sword, all hope for Philistia disappears when David uses Goliath’s sword to behead the giant. No doubt, David held his trophy up for all to see. To do less would be to minimize God’s victory. Imagine the shock on both sides. For the Philistines, the champion by whom they gloated lay dead. No one can say, “Well, maybe the situation isn’t as bad as it looks.” For the Israelites, their greatest threat, the one whom everyone from the foot soldier to the king has dreaded, is gone. The momentum drives the Philistines from terrorists to the terrorized.

When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron. And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.

--1 Samuel 17:51b-53

Of course, military reversal is important. It stands as one of the blessings that the LORD promised Israel. Provided that they remained faithful to their covenant. “The LORD will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before you. They shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways” (Deuteronomy 28:7). Such is the case here. The greater shift involves David’s instant change in status. He rockets from the supposedly presumptuous nobody who has “come down to see the battle” (1 Samuel 17:28) to the singular star whom God has used to turn the war. Such a meteoric rise to fame carries the potential corrupt one’s thinking. “Look at me! I’m somebody!” We see a more subdued reaction from David. The section concludes with the statement, “And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.” David understands that Saul’s head belongs to the public. As grizzly as it might be, it serves as a reminder that “this assembly may know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear” (1 Samuel 17:47). However, I believe that David’s decision to keep Saul’s armor shows that he wants to carve out a private part of his life that is safe from public demand. He knows that he will be a public figure from this point forward. If he were to surrender to the adulation that he knows is coming, his whole life would fall to the mercy of public opinion. His decision to preserve a part of his life to keep private is a wise one. Saul lacked this insight and found himself in moral freefall when his tables turned (1Samuel 15:27-32).

A Sinister New Turn of Events
After concluding the detailed narration of the battle, the narrator doubles back to recount an event that takes place during the confrontation. The scene occurs in two halves, shown here by a break in the text:

As soon as Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?”
And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.”
And the king said, “Inquire whose son the boy is.”

And as soon as David returned from the striking down of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.
And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?”
And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

--1 Samuel 17:55-58 emphasis added

The original battle account opens in verse 40 and traces the action from David’s perspective. The reexamination that begins in verse 55 switches to Saul.

• David’s point of view: “So he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put then in his shepherd’s pouch…” (1 Samuel 17:40).
• Saul’s point of view: “As soon as Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?” (1 Samuel 17:55).

In the first telling, David controls the action. He prepares for his attack. He approaches the champion. He answers Goliath’s bluster with a speech that declares his faith in the God who will save Israel. He launches the first shot. And he decapitates the champion’s head. Meanwhile, Saul and Abner watch passively. On the surface, the dialogue between the two sounds like an innocent inquiry between the king and his chief general about this new character who has arisen unnoticed. This is all double-speak. Saul’s question, “Abner, whose son is this youth?” stands in glaring contrast to the history that exists between David and Saul. It was only a short while ago that Saul summoned David to serve as his personal musician. He openly respected David for his skill. 1 Samuel 16:21 reads, “David came to Saul and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer.” Now, David kills the Philistine champion, and Saul and Abner act like they do not know him. Something sinister is taking place.

The Doomed King Versus the True King in the Aftermath of the Battle
The scene dissects Saul. We see his moral collapse in the broader context. Several titanic changes have fallen on him already:

• The LORD has rejected him as king (1 Samuel 15:26).
• The Spirit of the LORD has departed from him (1 Samuel 16:13).
• Saul unwittingly has become dependent on David for his mental stability. This places David in a commanding position over Saul (1 Samuel 16:23).

On the other side of the picture, David’s character grows:

• Though he does not understand the significance of Samuel’s actions, he has become God’s anointed new king.
• From his first appearance on the battlefield, David has displayed passion for his God.
• David’s victory over Goliath on the battlefield has given him star status. Saul remains king, but David has become Israel’s hero. He will overshadow Saul from this point on.

This brings us to the final two lines in 1 Samuel 17. Saul asks David, “Whose son are you, young man?” David’s answer is rightfully cagy. “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.” Old Testament scholar Walter Brueggemann makes this observation on the exchange:

David’s answer is adequate and respectful, but it is less than forthcoming. David identified his family, but will not give his own name. It is as though he intends to withhold what is most precious from the king whom he will serve and eventually displace.[1]

David is right to exercise caution toward Saul. He recognizes the king’s deceitfulness and matches ploy with ploy. But I believe that he is operating in more than self-interest, as Brueggemann’s quote suggests. David demonstrates what I see as spiritual cunning. He is wise enough to recognize Saul’s manipulative question and humble enough to deflect it with an answer that gives the king only what he asks. Brueggemann mentions “the king whom [David] will serve and eventually displace.” This observation is true only in one sense. The writer has made God’s intention to replace Saul clear to the readers already. We see it from the moment that God announces his intention to Samuel in 1 Samuel 15:10-11. David, however, does not own that bit of knowledge. He knows that he possesses unique gifts, and he understands that they come from the LORD. He knows that Samuel’s act of anointing him meant something, but so far, he waits for the LORD to reveal what it might be. The Bible is silent on how David has learned these skills, but his shrewdness is undeniable. As 1 Samuel continues to unfold, David will grapple under a mountain of unanswered questions and waiting, punctuated only occasionally by moments of clarity. The author of 1 Samuel will paint one of the most vivid accounts of the way that God develops character—through difficulties and broken expectations that drive his servants to wait in expectation tempered by faith.

Doug Knox

[1] Walter Brueggemann, First and Second Samuel, INTERPRETATION: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, (Louisville, Kentucky: John Knox Press, 1990), 134.

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Man Builders, Part 27

1 Samuel 118:1-16

David—Forged Masterpiece, Part 9

WHEN THE TRUE KING OF ISRAEL EMERGES

The Tipping Point in David’s Public Life
Earlier in the series, we noted that Samuel appears to have kept the purpose for anointing David secret from the young man and his family (1 Sameul 16:11-13). David’s anointing remained secret for two reasons. The first, of course, deals with circumstances. Following the LORD’s pronouncement to Saul that he had rejected him from the throne, Samuel feared for his life when the LORD told him to anoint another (1 Sameul 15:6 with 16:1-2). The second reason goes to the deeper purpose within God’s plan. David cannot know what God wishes to do with him because his very character development hinges on how he handles the unknowns. He must stand in faith rather than anticipating an expected end. The Bible shows us his character development through three events. Each of them emerges from the anointing, and each of them carries a note of irony. Immediately following the anointing, the Spirit of the LORD rushes upon David “from that day forward” (1 Samuel 16:13). In contrast, the Spirit departs from Saul (1 Samuel 16:14). Meanshile, Saul unknowingly comes to depend on the man whom God has chosen to replace him as king (1 Samuel 16:21). Following this, God gives David a one-sided victory over Goliath on the battlefield. While David’s oldest brother Eliab accuses him of wanting to “come down to see the battle” (1 Samuel 17:28), David marches out in confidence that no one else has and becomes Israel’s new hero.

A Good Dangerous Man to Have Around
This brings us to the third event. Immediately following the Philistine rout, Jonathan and David become close friends. The scene begins where chapter 17 closes, in Saul’s and Abner’s presence as they discuss what they have witnessed on the battlefield.

As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father's house.
Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt.
And David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him, so that Saul set him over the men of war. And this was good in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul's servants.

--1 Samuel 18:1-5

The three paragraphs in the quote above show an almost visual transition from the immediacy of the battle to the narrative summary that closes the scene. The first picks up the scene at the end of chapter 17, at the close of David’s interview with Saul. David’s single-handed victory over the Philistines makes him a public figure. Saul is right to retain him. He cannot go back to his house to pretend that nothing has happened. To do less than accept his triumph would betray the people and nullify the victory that the LORD has given. From there, the scene switches to David’s impact on Saul’s son. Jonathan, who has been openly critical of his father’s wooden leadership already (1 Samuel 14:29), finds a brother-in-arms in David. His voluntary relinquishment of his right to the throne is a very visual scene. The listing of each piece as he surrenders his robe, his armor, his sword, his bow, and his belt, shows his determination before the young man whom he recognizes to be Israel’s next true king. Jonathan’s actions cement David’s role as king-elect publicly.
The third paragraph pulls our viewpoint back to full narrative summary. David is successful in all his endeavors, he connects with the men of war as their new commander, and he captures the hearts of the people and the servants in Saul’s household. He earns universal respect as he carries out his duties in service.

Personal Acknowledgement of God’s Calling
David clearly is intelligent, but he is also shrewd. After the conclusion of the Philistine defeat when Saul plays coy and asks him, “Whose son are you, young man?” (1 Samuel 17:58), he resists the temptation to seek self-glorification. His reply in the second half of the verse, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite,” places him in a subordinate position under Saul, easing the cause for suspicion. Nonetheless, his humility cannot hide his talent.

As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments.
And the women sang to one another as they celebrated,

“Saul has struck down his thousands,
and David his ten thousands.”

And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and what more can he have but the kingdom?” And Saul eyed David from that day on.

--1 Samuel 18:6-11

David has been Saul’s armor bearer for some time already, so he knows the danger he faces from the unstable king. The post-Goliath account concludes with two paragraphs. The first relates a brief incident in Saul’s chambers:

The next day a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house while David was playing the lyre, as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand. And Saul hurled the spear, for he thought, "I will pin David to the wall." But David evaded him twice.

--1 Samuel 18:10-11

The storm that has developed around Saul has generated turbulent waters. His paranoia toward David grows stronger by the day, driven even further by the fact that he must depend on the very man whom he hates. Brueggemann describes the cycle this way:

David drives Saul wild, but only David can soothe Saul. Saul is left with an endless cycle of rage and comfort, wherein the comforter evokes more rage, which requires fresh comfort. Given this no-win circumstance, Saul is driven to bold stratagems in an attempt either to remove David from his presence or to eliminate him altogether.[1]

Applications
There is meaning to Jesus’s warning, “To whom much is given much is required” (Luke 12:48). God is not a DEI employer. He does not place all men under equal potential situations while he waits for the successful candidates to rise to the top. Jonathan’s covenant with David makes David’s coming reign public knowledge. Meanwhile, Saul’s double attempt to pin David to the wall with his spear proves how difficult David’s task will be. The events that take place following Samuel’s anointing of David not only shape David but also bring him to the place where he can accept the honor that Jonathan bestows on him. At the same time, his acceptance of the call puts him in a precarious transitional position. A summary paragraph describes how David handles the personal demands that come with the duties:

Saul was afraid of David because the LORD was with him but had departed from Saul. So Saul removed him from his presence and made him a commander of a thousand. And he went out and came in before the people. And David had success in all his undertakings, for the LORD was with him. And when Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in fearful awe of him. But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before them.

--1 Samuel 18:12-16

Saul’s decision to remove David from his presence gives him a rest from the constant danger that he has experienced, but only temporarily. The path to the throne will prove to be costly.

Doug Knox

[1] Brueggerman, First and Second Samuel, 138

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Man Builders, Part 28

1 Samuel 18:17 – 20:42

David—Forged Masterpiece, Part 10

FROM FRUSTRATION TO DESPAIR

David’s Darkening Future
What happens when a man does everything right, only to find greater opposition against his work? Part of disappointment emerges from the steady stream of sermons and Bible lessons that overemphasize pat answers, happy endings, and just-so conclusions. The teaching that calls us to expect them emerges from cherry picking rather than thorough study of the Scriptures. Many men have stumbled in their faith when the easy consequences that they expected failed to materialize. Yes, God does answer in big ways—sometimes. But to wish for success for every deed done in faith is to demand perfection from God. That will not come until Christ removes evil once for all from the world at the close of history. Meanwhile, we learn discipline from hardship.
The previous section closed with observations recorded in 1 Samuel 18. One shows David’s immediate popularity among the people as a heroic figure. When he returns from Socoh, where he killed Goloatih, the women chant, “Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands” (1 Samuel 18:7). That moment marks the last time that David enjoys notoriety in Israel. The later narrative observation is, “Saul was afraid of David because the LORD was with him but had departed from Saul” (1 Samuel 18:12). His growing paranoia will overshadow everything that occurs in the next two and a half chapters. The events depicted in this section appear to take place in relatively rapid sequence. In the close of 1 Samuel 18, Saul sees that his daughter Michal has fallen in love with David (1 Samuel 18:20). For Saul, the development is the perfect opportunity to rid himself of the man he has come to hate. He gives her as a bride for David, with the stipulation that David brings him 100 Philistine foreskins, “that he may be avenged of the king’s enemies.” The real reason, of course, was to put him in harm’s way so that he would die (1 Samuel 18:28). Unfortunately for Saul, David brings back two hundred. Saul finds himself bound to grant David’s wish. The concession reveals his true character. “But when Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David, and that Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him, Saul was even more afraid of David. So Saul was David’s enemy continually” (1 Samuel 18:28-29).

More Familial Manipulations
When his plan to leverage Michal against David fails, Saul turns to his son. “And Saul spoke to Jonathan his son and to all his servants, that they should kill David” (1 Samuel 19:1). This passage reveals the dark extremes of Saul’s desperation. Certainly, he knows that Jonathan and David are allies, but he leverages his son against David anyway. Thankfully, Jonathan is still able to speak sense into him.

And Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have brought good to you. For he took his life in his hand and he struck down the Philistine, and the LORD worked a great salvation for al Isreal. You saw it and rejoiced.”

--1 Samuel 19:4-5

Jonathan’s counsel succeeds and allows David to return and play the lyre for Saul, but his reprieve lasts only for a short time. In another fit of rage, Saul throws his javelin at him, driving David away again (1 Samuel 19:10). Following this, he sets up an assassination attempt in David’s own house (1 Samuel 19:11). Michal discovers the plot and sets up a dummy in his bed while she sends David away. She puts herself in harm’s way to protect her husband.

Saul said to Michal, “Why have you deceived me thus and let my enemy go, so that he has escaped?”
And Michal answered Saul, “He said to me, ‘Let me go. Why should I kill you?’”

--1 Samuel 19:17

Finding Help from God’s Prophet
At this point, David flees to Samuel at Ramah. There he tells him what had happened. Samuel takes David to Naioth, but Saul’s spy network finds him there (1 Samuel 19:18-19). Here, God intervenes directly. Saul sends three groups of “messengers” (1 Samuel 19:20) to seize David. Obviously, they are assassins. Each time, when they come upon Samuel’s company, the Spirit of the LORD overwhelms them and causes them to prophesy. Finally, Saul goes with his men, and the LORD humiliates him.

Then he himself went to Ramah and came to the great well that is in Secu. And he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?”
And one said, “Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.” And he went there to Naioth in Ramah. And the Spirit of God came upon him also, and as he went he prophesied until he came to Naioth in Ramah. And he too stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel and lay naked all that day and all that night. Thus it is said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

--1 Samuel 19:22-24

The rhetorical question, “Is Saul also among the prophets,” has appeared earlier in 1 Samuel 10:10-11. The earlier incident took place just after Samuel anointed Saul as king. Both cases picture the LORD’s sovereign control over Saul. During the call to be king, the action appeared both to affirm God’s calling and to show that Saul’s title meant nothing to Israel’s God. Even as king, he still served as God’s servant. This time, the reference to Saul’s nakedness pictures degradation. Saul, who has set himself against Samuel, David, and God himself, is placed with the social outcasts. “The pitifully embarrassing scene is that of this once great man, still tall but no longer great…now rendered powerless in a posture of submissiveness.”[1]

David’s Covenant with Jonathan
1 Samuel 20 records the well-known account of Jonathan’s secret covenant with David. We will cover it briefly here. When Saul humiliates himself, David flees to Ramah to seek Jonathan. By now, his frustration is evident. “What have I done? What is my sin before your father, that he seeks my life” (1 Samuel 20:1). David apparently knows nothing of Samuel’s parting words to Saul, that the LORD has taken his kingdom from him. Right now, David is lost in the brush. The LORD’s guiding hand remains invisible to him. Of course, this supplies part of the answer to the question at the beginning of the segment. How can a man learn to walk by faith except by the experience of groping in the dark? It is easy enough to understand that God requires faith from his saints. The task can become unbearable when the loss of bearing forces us to lean on faith as if our lives depend on it. Jonathan, aware that Saul’s spies follow him, conceives a plan to warn David without anyone else becoming the wiser.

Then Jonathan said to him, “Tomorrow is the new moon, and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. On the third day go down quickly to the place where you hid yourself when the matter was in hand, and remain beside the stone heap. And I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as though I shot at a mark. And behold, I will send the boy, saying, ‘Go, find the arrows.’ If I say to the boy, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you, take them,’ then you are to come, for, as the LORD lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger. But if I say to the youth, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then go, for the LORD has sent you away. And as for the matter of which you and I have spoken, behold, the LORD is between you and me forever.”

--1 Samuel 20:18-23

Life Lessons in the Making
We know the outcome. Saul flies into a rage at David’s absence, leaving Jonathan to tell his friend and ally to flee. Within their discourse together, Jonathan reiterates his confidence that David will reign as Israel’s king. Here, he makes one of his most memorable pleas to the coming ruler:

“If I am still alive, show me the steadfast love of the LORD, that I may not die; and do not cut off your steadfast love from my house forever, when the LORD cuts off every one of the enemies of David from the face of the earth.”

--1 Samuel 20:14-15

With the contingent phrase, “If I am still alive…,” Jonathan foreshadows the tragedy that is to come. He and his father Saul will fall in battle at the close of 1 Samuel. Meanwhile, the difficulties that David has endured so far are driving him to a place where he has no choice but to trust the LORD. That trust will become his default setting.

Doug Knox

[1] Brueggemann, first and second Samuel, 145.

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Man Builders, Part 29

1 Samuel 21:1-19

David—Forged Masterpiece, Part 11

SURRENDERING CONTROL OF THE SITUATION

Questionable Tactics
David is a heroic figure, but he is also human. Starting in 1 Samuel 21, we will witness decisions on his part that are questionable at best. Ultimately, people will die because of hasty choices. The first begins with a lie spoken for the sake of self-preservation.

Then David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest.
And Ahimelech came to meet David, trembling, and said to him, “Why are you alone, and no one with you?”
And David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has charged me with a matter and said to me, ‘Let no one know anything of the matter about which I send you, and with which I have charged you.’ I have made an appointment with the young men for such and such a place. Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever is here.”

--1 Samuel 21:1-3

Just before this incident, Saul became so enraged that his son Jonathan has given the right to his throne to David that he hurled a spear at him (1 Samuel 20:30-34). David is right to flee to Nob. However, his lie to Ahimelech about Saul’s secret business leaves me scratching my head. Clearly, the priest knows who David is. Further, Saul’s paranoia over David would have been common knowledge as well. Had David told Ahimelech the truth about the situation, he could have accommodated him as well as being able to prepare for Saul’s entry. Ahimelech responds that they have only consecrated bread, which would be available to the men if they are sexually pure:

And the priest answered David, “I have no common bread on hand, but there is holy bread—if the young men have kept themselves from women."
And David answered the priest, “Truly women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition. The vessels of the young men are holy even when it is an ordinary journey. How much more today will their vessels be holy?”
So the priest gave him the holy bread, for there was no bread there but the bread of the Presence, which is removed from before the LORD, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away.

--1 Samuel 21:4-6

The Issues Surrounding “Holy” Bread
The question about the right of David and his men to eat the bread of the Presence arises only briefly in this context. According to Leviticus 24:5-9, the twelve loaves of bread in the tabernacle are forbidden for ordinary use. They are reserved “for Aaron and his sons, and they shall eat it in a holy place, since it is for him a most holy portion out of the LORD’s food offerings, a perpetual due” (Leviticus24:9). David and his men obviously need food, a reality Ahimelech recognizes. The only restriction he asks that David and his men “have kept themselves from women.” David assures him that they are sexually clean, and Ahimelech shares the bread with them. The Bible pronounces no criticism toward Abiathar over the act. His generosity with the bread appears to affirm that the LORD welcomes kindness over rigid adherence to customs in the face of genuine need. The incident turns up in Mark’s Gospel. There, Jesus’s disciples break off heads of wheat and blow the hulls away to eat the wheat on the Sabbath. The Pharisees seek out Jesus to complain that his disciples are “doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath” (Mark 2:24), that is, Jesus counters with a summary of David and his men eating the bread of the presence. In reply, he raises the subject of Abiathar’s actions and reasons from them on the importance of caring for others over the enforcement of inflexible religious practice as it existed in his day (Mark 2:25-27). [1]

A Sinister Development on the Horizon
When David and his men eat the bread, the account interjects this brief note:

Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, detained before the LORD. His name was Doeg the Edomite, the chief of Saul's herdsmen.

--1 Samuel 21:7

For the present, the writer drops the comment as a foreshadowing event. As we will see in the next installment, Doeg is not only loyal to Saul but also pitiless toward anyone he considers an enemy.

Armament for David
The completion of the meal brings a chance for David to conduct necessary business:

Then David said to Ahimelech, “Then have you not here a spear or a sword at hand? For I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me, because the king's business required haste.”
And the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you struck down in the Valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you will take that, take it, for there is none but that here.”
And David said, “There is none like that; give it to me.”

--1 Samuel 21:8-9

This passage shows the dire nature of David’s situation. “I have brought neither my sword nor my weapons with me.” His flight from Saul has left him defenseless. Unfortunately, the lie that he has planted at the beginning requires further shoring. He lacks weapons because “the king’s business required haste.” Thankfully, Ahimelech has Goliath’s sword and gives it to David. Yet despite David’s compromises, the LORD supplies his needs at the right time.

Deeper Descent into Chaos
With the completion of the business at Nob, David flees to Gath, about twenty-five miles to the southwest. His arrival there is awkward. After all, he shows up to seek sanctuary from the very enemy that he has routed before.

And David rose and fled that day from Saul and went to Achish the king of Gath.
And the servants of Achish said to him, “Is not this David the king of the land? Did they not sing to one another of him in dances,
‘Saul has struck down his thousands,
and David his ten thousands’?”
And David took these words to heart and was much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. So he changed his behavior before them and pretended to be insane in their hands and made marks on the doors of the gate and let his spittle run down his beard.
Then Achish said to his servants, “Behold, you see the man is mad. Why then have you brought him to me? Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”

--1 Samuel 21:10-15

The scene emphasizes the chaos that engulfs David. The only apparent place to flee from Saul is Gath, a Philistine city, where his reputation for striking down his enemies by the thousands precedes him. King Achish’s servants know the celebratory chant that the people sang after his victory over Goliath and the Philistine army. David’s reaction is visceral. The text reads that he “took these words to heart,” a euphemism for realizing how much potential trouble he faces. Consequently, he is terrified of King Achish. In an apparent spur-of-the-moment move, he impersonates an insane man. Achish’s response, “Do I lack madmen, that you have brought this fellow to behave as a madman in my presence?” appears to speak to the close cultural association between madness and prophetic insight. In a world where secret knowledge holds strategic value, madmen are considered useful but seldom worthy of respect. (Think of the undercurrent that runs through the populace when Saul pursues David only to find himself driven to prophesy naked before Samuel. The people’s reply, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” (1 Samuel 19: 24) reflects disparagement).

The David We do Not Know
Saul’s first planned attempt to assassinate David in 1 Samuel 19 signals a period of growing chaos in David’s life that will continue to pursue him until Saul dies at the close of the book. The brief and apparently unrelated episode with King Achish in chapter 21 foreshadows a second episode in 1 Samuel 27 – 30 when David returns to ally himself with the man. The final thirteen chapters will drive us to abandon our just-so concept of David as a one-dimensional “hero of the faith.” He will make tactical and moral mistakes that will cost people their lives. The events that are about to take place will twist David’s self-concept beyond its limits and present mysteries for us as readers that defy easy explanations. In many ways, David will grow into more of a mystery through his very humanness. God does not call men who are perfect. He calls broken men and reforges them.

Doug Knox

[1] The context in Mark is important. From Mark 2:1 – 3:6, Jesus brings five areas of life under his authoritative rule as the Son of Man. Each of these seizures occurs in succession. They are: 1) The authority of the Son of Man to forgive sins on the earth, demonstrated by the healing of the paralytic, (Mark 2:1-12); his authority and choice to call sinners to faith and fellowship with them (Mark 2:13-17); his authority to announce that he is the fulfillment of Old Testament promises—in his words, bringing new wine in fresh wineskins, (Mark 2:18-22); 4) his pronouncement as the Son of Man to be Lord of the Sabbath, (Mark 2:23-28); 5) his authority as Lord of the Sabbath to do good works on that day, (Mark 3:1-6).

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